Let's Be Young
by lostboykai
Summary: Mykie O'Conner should have known better than to think that her brother could stay out of trouble. She was no better, definitely not after the shit she got up to abroad, but she didn't think it would turn out like this. She's really starting to wish she would have stayed in Europe.
1. Let's Be Young

**Here are some things to expect from this fic: canon-typical violence, cursing, mild sexual content, queer characters written by a queer, angst, shit about cars that has been googled and is probably not accurate, inaccurate knowledge of medical treatments, even more cursing, even more violence, and more to be added. I really wish ff had a tagging system like AO3. If there's a serious warning I have to put before a chapter I will, but this is just so you know what you're getting yourself into.**

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Mykie O'Conner was already regretting her choice on coming back to LA. She stretched her arms out above her head, wincing when her side ached and burned, but it was easily ignored. After spending so long in Europe, she had forgotten about the heat. She certainly hadn't missed it.

All she had on her was a duffel bag, strapped to her back instead of hanging off to the side. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to find the person she was meant to be meeting. Someone she had only come in contact with over the phone, so she had no idea what to look for.

"O'Conner?" A familiar voice called out and she jumped, looking for the source. A woman with dirty blonde hair and a grin that could easily be just as dirty was standing off to the side, leaning against a truck that was parked in the ' _No Parking_ ' zone of the building. What had Mykie really smiling was the car that the truck had been towing.

A '69 Camaro, painted in a baby blue to match her eyes, that her brother and herself had built together as her first car. She had missed it, not able to take it to Europe with her.

Mykie finally tore her eyes away from it and smiled at the woman in front of her. She already would have been taller than Mykie, everyone was, but the heeled boots didn't help. "Great to finally meet you in person, Vix. Definitely a lot prettier than the face I tried to put a voice to," she winked, smiling when the woman, Vix, just laughed.

"Don't let Ray hear you say that, she can be pretty possessive and would kick your ass." Vix warned, pulling the keys to the Camaro out of her pocket and tossing them to the girl.

She pouted, puffing out her chest while trying to stand a little taller. "What, don't think I could take your girlfriend, Vee?"

VIx snorted, staring down at the blonde. "She's taller than even me, so I'd say no. She could sit on you and you'd be done for." She looked up and saw a frowning security guard making his way towards the two, most likely to yell at them for being in the ' _No Parking_ ' spot. "Time to go, shorty. I'd suggest you take off too, we got a wannabe cop coming after us."

Mykie glanced back at him and saw that her friend was right. "Damn, I've only been back in the country for a few minutes and I'm already getting in trouble," she sighed, unlocking her door. "Tell Ray I said hey, and I'll be around to kick her ass for your hand one of these days." She joked, tossing her bag inside of the car.

"Will do, Mykie." Vix gave her a two-finger salute before jumping in her truck, barely giving it the second to start before taking off.

Mykie heard the footsteps behind her get quicker and got in her own car as well, ignoring the officer's shout of 'Hey!'. She tore off out of the parking lot, leaving nothing but dust and smoke behind.

Brian hadn't told her much, so she stopped at the place she had heard him mention he was 'working' at for the UC job. Racer's Edge, and it did look pretty nice. She parked and stepped out, ignoring the catcalls from the men standing outside around their own cars.

"Hey, girly!" One of them yelled as she walked up to the front doors, "you get that ride from your boyfriend?" She flipped him off, giving the group a heated glare.

The bell above the door chimed, making the man at the desk look up. Harry thought he recognized something very familiar about the woman, but couldn't quite figure it out. "What can I do for 'ya?" Unlike the men outside, he knew not to expect every woman to be clueless about cars. He learned that the hard way after meeting a certain Letty Ortiz.

"I hear my brother is working here, and was wondering if you could tell me where he's at?" She questioned, taking a good look around the inside of the store.

He leaned against the counter, arms folded in front of him. "Yeah? And who's your brother?"

She had no idea what last name her brother was going by for this job, but at least he had kept his first name. "Brian? I just got back from a… a trip out of the country, was hoping to see him on my first day back, y'know?"

Oh, that was why he recognized her! The two certainly had the same blue eyes and blonde curls. Harry stuck out his hand, giving her a more genuine smile. "You must be Mykie, then! He's talked about you a lot. Didn't think you were getting in for another month, though?"

She barely held back from flinching, the wound on her side giving her a harsh reminder of why she left. "Yeah, I decided to ditch and come home early. It was way too chilly for my ass to spend any longer there."

"Right," he nodded. "Well, he's down at the cafe that the Torettos own. Been going there every day for three weeks now." The man snorted, shaking his head. "Boy has the biggest crush on the owner's sister."

"Yeah, that sounds like my brother. Always gettin' in trouble over a girl." Mykie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Alright, which way is it?"

Harry gave her the directions to the cafe/garage, but stopped her before she could leave. "You do know Spilner's on the _job_ right now, right?"

She smiled at him, thankful that he had given her that small, but important, little detail. "Sure do. Thanks for reminding me."

Mykie caught the same crowd of men from earlier around her car, prowling around it like it was the last model on Earth, and whistled sharply, frowning at them. "If you like what's between your legs, I'd get away from my car, boys."

"So this is your car, huh?" The obvious leader of the group said, smirking at her.

"Built it from scratch." She answered him, giving him a cool stare. "Now get your boys and back the fuck up. I got somewhere to be, and don't need to be late."

The man held his hands up, but called his boys off. "Shit, lady. No need to get hostile."

She just got into her car, making a quick getaway before they could hold her back from seeing her brother any longer.

It wasn't hard to find the garage Harry was talking about. She idled at the stop sign just at the corner, watching as a group of race cars pulled into a stop out front. A company truck for the Racer's Edge was also parked on the other side of the street, so she could only assume that it was her brother.

Mykie pulled up and parked her car in front of the truck, shutting it off before she gained any more attention, even though she had already failed at that. Thankfully her windows were tinted, so nobody could see her watching the group. They all got out of their cars, crowding around the blue one.

"Who is that?" Leon questioned, watching the woman finally get out of the car. "Never seen that ride around here before."

Jesse looked up from checking over Vince's car, eyes widening as he looked her over. "No idea, but damn, she's beautiful."

They watched her completely ignore them as she walked up to the front of the door, hesitating for just a second before suddenly running the last few feet and launching herself at the blonde that constantly flirted with Mia.

"Bri!" She cheered, wrapping her arms around his neck as she slammed into his back. He slid forward in his seat, grunting when his gut was rammed into the counter. He turned his head, getting nothing but messy blonde curls in the face. She leaned down, placing a kiss on his cheek before letting go so he could hug her properly.

"Mykie! Holy shit, I thought you were still in London?" He grinned, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her in for a hug. The stool wasn't stable enough to hold the both of them, so she sat on the one to his right, barely giving the girl behind the counter a second glance as she set her elbow on it, resting her chin on her palm. "You should have told me you were coming, I would have taken today off so I could get you."

She waved her hand dismissively, "Nah, I had it handled. Good friend of mine brought me my car since it'd been so long since I've driven her. And I got tired of London and missed my baby bro." She grinned, ruffling his hair.

Brian rolled his eyes and swatted her hand away. "You're older by, like, two minutes."

"Hey, two minutes is two minutes. And you know what it's like?" He didn't say anything, raising a brow. She grinned. "You'll know when you're older."

He groaned, refraining from slamming his head against the counter. This was sadly not the first time he's heard that.

"He's talked about you, you know?" Mia questioned, finally butting into the conversation. She leaned her hip against the counter, smiling at the blonde girl. "When I asked if he had siblings, he couldn't stop bragging about you."

Mykie looked at Brian, smirking with a brow raised. "Has he? Didn't know there was much to brag about."

Mia set down a sandwich in front of Brian, glancing at the blonde next to him. "You want anything?"

"Um, just a coke would be good. Thanks," Mykie smiled at her.

"Sure thing." Mia smiled and glanced behind her. The group Mykie had passed outside was finally coming in. "What's up, guys?"

They returned the hello, and Mykie watched the boys start messing with the chips. The other woman leaned against the wooden pillar, looking at the man in the back office. "Hey Dom, want something to drink?" Instead of answering her, he just held up a half empty beer bottle.

Vince sat down on Brian's other side, barely sparring Mykie a glance. He pushed the salt shaker towards him, knocking it into his plate.

"Here you go," Mia sat down the glass of coke, eyeing Vince. Mykie smiled in thanks and took a sip.

"Oh, he's beautiful." She heard Jesse comment on her brother and smirked, covering it with her hand. "The girl beside him is even more- just, wow."

"I like his hair cut." Leon added, throwing a chip in his mouth. "Wonder if she's as wild as her hair."

"Vince." Mia tried to get the man's attention. Brian looked at her, but he just kept on staring at the blond. "Vince!"

He turned towards her, and Mykie couldn't help but think that he was like a love sick puppy. Toss a dog a bone, and they'll love you forever. And for obvious reasons, too. Mykie had to admiy, the brunette was real pretty. "What?"

"Can I get you anything?" She questioned, looking impatient.

Vince smiled, looking her up and down. "You look good." He complimented.

Mykie watched her brother look at him before shaking his head. He stood up and pulled some money out of his pocket. "Thanks a lot, Mia. I'll see you tomorrow." He looked at his sister, "Come on, Mykie."

She whined, holding her glass up. "I'm not done with my coke, though." He gave her the look and she sighed. Turning back to Mia, she gave her a smile and put down her own cash to pay for the drink. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too." Mia smiled at her and she walked away.

"Tomorrow?" Vince questioned quietly to himself, before standing up. "Yo! Try Fat Burger form now on, you can get yourself a double cheese with fries for $2.95, faggot."

Mykie felt her whole body twitch, freezing up in the middle of the street. She clenched her fists, angry, even though she knew it wasn't directed at her. Still, she _hated_ that word.

Brian glanced back at Vince, smirking. "I like the tuna here."

"Bullshit, asshole. No one likes the tuna here." Vince snapped. He brushed passed Mykie, knocking into her shoulder and causing her to stumble.

"Yeah, well I do." Brian retorted without looking back, before he was slammed up against the truck's door. He spun around, punching Vince in the face. Vince growled and ran at him, tackling him into the truck.

Mykie watched in annoyance, hands on her hips. The two men tried getting their arms around the other, swinging punches.

"Dom, can you please get out there? I'm sick of this shit!" Mia called, but the man ignored her. "I'm not kidding Dom, get out there!" He stood up and turned around, looking at her.

"What did you put in that sandwich?" He questioned, holding back a smirk.

"Oh, that's really funny," Mia snapped.

Letty was quickly growing tired of it. "Dom!" She shouted, nodding her head towards outside.

By now, Vince had slammed Brian against one of the cars. They fell to the ground, trying to get on top of one another. Dom started walking out, the other three following, but Mykie stepped in before they could.

She grabbed the back of Vince's shirt and pulled, yanking him away from her brother. "What a fucking pussy, going at someone with their back turned," she snarled, pushing him back again when he tried getting in her face.

With Vince distracted, Dom grabbed Brian off of the ground and slammed him against the car.

"Hey man, he was in my face." He held his hands up, trying to defend himself.

"I'm in your face." Dom snapped, getting closer. Vince glared at Mykie before trying to lunge at her brother again. Dom grabbed him and threw him back. "Relax! You're done. You embarrass me!" Leon shoved him away even further before he could try and make another move. "Jesse, hand me the wallet."

He did without question and Dom opened it. "Brian Earl Spilner? Sounds like a serial killer name. Is that what you are?"

Mykie stepped up, shoulders set back and tense while she glared up at him. "What the hell, man?"

Dom glanced at her before looking back at Brian, holding the wallet out. "Don't come here again." Brian took the wallet and the man started walking away.

Just when she thought they were done, Brian had to go and open his mouth. "Hey, this is bullshit, man!" Mykie sighed, smacking her forehead with her hand.

Dom turned back around and stomped up to the siblings. "You work for Harry, right?"

Brian nodded. "Yeah, just started."

"You were just fired." Dom turned and walked away again.

Mykie smacked her brother's chest, annoyance flashing across her face. "Really, dude? You just had to open your mouth, didn't 'ya?"

He glared at her and walked to his truck. She rolled her eyes and followed, getting in her Camaro.

Dom watched her car go. She had come out of nowhere and left just as quickly. Jesse seemed to like her, but he didn't trust either of the siblings.

Brian pulled into a parking spot at the Racer's Edge, front end of the truck hitting the sidewalk. Mykie followed in, at a much slower speed, and parked. She cut the engine and got out, closing and locking her door. "Bri, you need to chill out." She told him, but he just ignored her.

Brian walked in just as Harry was getting off of the phone with Dom. Mykie was hesitant to follow him into the back room, so she hung back and looked around the store. It was obviously a garage that mostly sold to street racers. That must be why Harry knew about the UC job; she didn't doubt that the LAPD probably blackmailed him into letting Brian stay there and work as a cover, and they wouldn't shut down his store.

She looked at the cases of NOS, reminiscing about the old days, when she raced almost every other day. She always raced against Brian or their friend, Roman, but rarely actually raced for cash or pinks. When she was in England, she was surprised that there was even a racing scene there. It was certainly different, and she enjoyed almost every minute while she was there.

"My car topped out at 140 miles per hour this morning." Brian said, walking back into the front. Mykie glanced at him as he and Harry approached the NOS displays she was in front of.

Harry tried to stop him. "Amateurs don't use nitrous oxide. I've seen the way you drive, you have a heavy foot. You'll blow yourself to pieces."

"Hell yeah, he will." Mykie agreed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I need one of these. One of the big ones." He touched one of the canisters before changing his mind. "Actually, you know what, let's make it two. And Harry, I need it by tonight."

Mykie sighed and shook her head. "You really are an idiot, Bri." Brian glared at her before smirking. "Oh, no. I don't like that look on your— Bri!" She screamed, dodging him as he lunged for her. He wrapped his arm around her neck and ruffled her hair, making it look even messier than it was. "Damn it, Brian!"

"Love you, Mykie!" He called, letting go and running away before she could grab him. Mykie waited a moment to give him a head start before taking off after him. The few people in the store watched, amused, as the oldest of the two quickly caught up. She tackled him, arms wrapping around his neck and her legs wrapping around his waist. They both fell onto the floor, rolling around and swinging playful punches.

"Alright, alright." Harry chuckled, grabbing Brian by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up. "Cut it out. You need to get back to work. You're one of my very few mechanics that are actually good."

At the mention of work, Mykie quickly sat up. "You looking for more mechanics?" Hell, if she could get a job on her first day back, she was going to.

"Yeah, why?" Harry looked down at her, offering a hand to her. "You know your way around an engine?"

Mykie snorted, taking the hand and letting him pull her up. "Know my way around an engine? You see that 69 Camaro outside? I rebuilt that thing with Bri, and did most of the work."

"I was there as supervision, really." Brian shrugged, still proud of his sister for doing it. "She was only sixteen, maybe seventeen, when we did it, too."

"You're hired." Harry put a hand on her shoulder, grinning. "There's a t-shirt in the back that you can change into."

Mykie pumped a fist in the air, cheering. Brian watched her run off, brows furrowed. This job was only temporary for him, but she might want to stay here for a while. "I'll fill out the paperwork for her to get started. She might actually stay here when I'm done with this job." Harry nodded, so he made his way to the computers.

Even after working for a couple of hours, Mykie still had a bunch of energy left in her. At first, he'd wanted her to stay at home and rest, but once Brian saw how badly Mykie was bouncing in her seat, well... He offered her a ride to the race he was going to that night. Not surprisingly, she agreed without hesitation. Mykie loved racing, it wasn't like she was going to say no.

She got dressed quickly, shoving on a pair of jeans. She considered tying off the t-shirt she grabbed, to act as a crop top, but the bandage wrapped around her torso would be a dead giveaway that she was hurt. She slid the shirt on, tucking part of it into her pants. A denim jacket was put on, sleeves rolled up. Her combat boots were at the bottom of the bag, and she quickly dug them out and slipped them on, shoving her pocketknife inside of the side. The familiar shape of it digging into her ankle was oddly comforting.

"Let's go." She told Brian and shoved her cellphone into her pocket, along with her wallet. They walked out to his car and got in, speeding off to where the races were being held.

"So why are you undercover?" Mykie asked, a few minutes into the ride. "And seriously? Spilner? That's the best you could come up with?" She paused for a moment, brows furrowed, before asking, "Isn't that the name you kept giving all of the subs back in high school?"

Brian chuckled, taking the turn that would lead them to where the races where. "Yeah, it is. And I can't tell you, it's classified." He teased, smiling at her.

"Oh come on, Bri! I won't tell." She pouted, giving him puppy dog eyes.

Brian shook his head, avoiding looking at her. He never could resist her puppy dog eyes. "No, Mykie. I can't risk you messing shit up." She huffed, quickly becoming annoyed. She could keep a secret! Hell, there was a rather large one she wasn't telling Brian, and she doubted she ever would. "Don't huff at me, you know I'm right."

He pulled up to the race and Mykie could practically feel the music in the air. Almost every car had their speakers out, playing music loudly. Her grin grew wider and she was bouncing in her seat, a large grin on her face.

They got out and looked around. The two looked like kids in a candy store. Eyes bright, smiles on their faces.

A Hispanic man walked over, gesturing towards the Skyline. "What'chu running under there, man?" Brian smirked, not opening his mouth. "You're going to make me find out the hard way?"

Brian chuckled, "Hell yeah."

The man nodded, pointing his finger at Brian. "You brave, you brave. They call me Hector. Got a last name, too, but I can't pronounce it."

Brian walked forward and held out his hand, "Brian Spilner."

Hector shook it, saying, "Typical white boy name." He looked over at Mykie and smirked. "Who's this beauty?"

Mykie smirked, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "Mykie Spilner, the sister."

"Ah, I was beginning to wonder why you two looked so alike." Hector chuckled and pointed to his car. "See that over there? That's my baby, but I ain't cutting her loose tonight."

"Why not?" Mykie questioned, studying the car from her spot.

"It's 'cause I'm trying to get on the NIRA circuit. You heard about that?"

Brian nodded, "Oh, hell yeah, dude."

"Yeah, so what's up with you, man?"

Mykie opened her mouth to answer, but Brian beat her to it. "Just waitin' for Toretto."

Another man walked up, joining the conversation. He chuckled, "You better get in line. This your's?" He asked, gesturing to the Skyline.

"I mean, he is standing next to it." Mykie answered, raising a single brow.

The man chuckled. "That's funny. You know, Edwin happens to know a few things. And one of the things that Edwin knows is, it's not how you stand by your car, but how you race your car. You better learn that."

"I think we know already, but thanks." She said, tone dry as she gave the man a cool stare. He scoffed, looking away.

The sound of multiple engines met the twin's ears and they turned to look. Toretto and his crew drove in and stopped. They all got out and joined the crowd, handshakes and slaps on the back being trades.

Mykie glanced over at her brother and groaned. "Bri, you best get that look off of your face."

He turned to her. "What face?"

"The face you make when you have a terrible idea." She answered, eyes narrowed. He smirked and reached into the car, pulling something out. A pink slip. "Damn it, Brian," She muttered, trailing behind him as he walked up to the crowd.

"Wait, hold up." He stepped into the conversation and held up the pink slip. "I don't have any cash, but I do have the pink slip to my car."

"You just can't climb in the ring with Ali 'cause you think you box!" Jesse cut in, shaking his head.

Brian pointed to Vince, "He knows I can box. Check it out, it's like this- I lose, winner takes my car, clean and clear. But if I win, I take the cash and I take your respect."

"Respect?" Dom laughed. Everyone around them chuckled, finding the idea funny.

"To some people," Mykie spoke up, attention turning to her, "that's more important."

Dom stared at the twins for a moment, contemplating them for a moment. Finally, he asked, "That your car?" While nodding over to the green Skyline.

Brian nodded and everyone walked to the Skyline. Jesse popped the hood and took a look inside, as everyone else 'oh'ed. He started listing off everything inside, leaning over to get a better look. Mykie smirked, enjoying the view. "I see a cool air intake. It's got a NOS fogger system and a T4 turbo, Dominic. I see an AIC controller. It has direct port nitrous injection. And a stand-alone fuel management system."

"Not a bad way to spend ten thousand dollars." Dom commented.

Edwin pulled back from taking a look inside. "He's got enough NOS in there to blow himself up."

Brian grinned, "So what do you say? Am I worthy?"

Dom chuckled. "We don't know yet. But you're in. Let's go!"

Mykie glanced at Brian before getting inside of the Skyline. She sat back, crossing one leg over the other. "You're going in too hot headed, Bri." She warned her brother as soon as he got in the car. He glanced at her, but didn't reply.

She looked at him, head tilted while her brows furrowed. "Why are you trying to get into the Toretto circle?"

"No reason." He lied, after a moment's hesitation.

"Seriously?" She frowned, turning to look out of the windshield. "You are great at UC jobs, but you should know better than to try and lie to your own sister, dude."

He nodded idly, not really listening to her, and pulled up to where the race was, being one of the last few to make it. He accidentally went over the line, causing people to yell out and laugh at him. Mykie rolled her eyes and got out once he'd backed up to behind the line. She leaned in the window, accidentally giving the guy behind her a nice view of her ass. "Don't die, Bri. Okay?"

Brian chuckled and smirked at her. "Don't worry, Mykie."

She stood up straight, hands in her pockets. She was going to worry, whether he tried to reassure her or not.

The racers were off as soon as Hector's arms were down. Brian swerved almost immediately, getting control of the car back a second later.

Mykie rocked on her heels, trying to focus passed the music and chatter for the sound of roaring engines. She couldn't hear anything, which meant that they were already too far away. She heard footsteps approach from behind her, but ignored them.

"He's not going to win, you know."

She turned and eyed the woman. She was the same one from Toretto's cafe, with Mia beside her. "No, probably not." She shrugged, still bouncing. "He's going to hurt the car trying to win against your boy Dom, I can tell you that much. The amount of NOS he put in the car is just stupid." She shook her head, chewing on her bottom lip.

Mia nudged her with her elbow, smiling lightly. "Brothers, am I right?"

Mykie laughed, nodding her head. "Oh, you're so right."

Letty watched her, but the blonde had gotten so used to having a heavy gaze on her that she didn't react to it and kept her eyes forward.

She fidgeted, annoyance and worry at war in her chest. Normally she trusted Brian to do good on his races, but he was being an idiot with the NOS this time around. He was trying to be bold, she knew that much. She should have asked Harry what the job was about when she had the chance. Now Brian has probably gone and told him not to tell her anything.

Letty was still watching her, but finally spoke up. "You got ADD or somethin'?"

Mykie shook her head, wringing her hands together, "Nah. Just nervous, and got a lot of pent up energy. Or, at least, that's what we've been calling it for the last thirteen years. I can focus on things just fine, but I gotta stay movin', 'ya know?"

"I have someone you might like to meet." Letty said, after a long pause. "Follow me." without waiting, she turned on her heel and started walking away. Mykie glanced at Mia, who just shrugged, before following after her. "He'd certainly like to meet you," she mumbled, so quiet that she almost missed it.

They approached Jesse, who was too busy talking to a race bunny to notice them.

Letty whistled, catching his and a few other people's attention. "Yo, Jesse. Got someone for you to meet." She grabbed Mykie's arm and dragged her over. "This is Mykie, she has ADD like you."

"I told you-" Mykie tried to speak, but Letty was already walking away. She huffed, puffing her cheeks out. Jesse couldn't help but think it was absolutely adorable. She turned her attention to Jesse, smiling brightly. "As you just heard, I'm Mykie." She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Jesse." He shook it. Just as he was about to pull away, Mykie tightened her hold and stepped closer. She twisted their hands, so his hand was on top of her's. She studied the nail polish, which was the same shade of black that her's was. He shifted, beginning to feel almost self conscious about it.

"Cool," she just grinned, letting his hand go. "Not often I see a guy rocking nail polish." Mykie nodded, subtly rocking her body to the beat of the song that was closest to them. It was a reasonably slower beat than the rest, but in that moment, Jesse loved it. The race bunny that he was talking to got annoyed and walked away, but he didn't notice.

Mykie smiled, stepping up to his car and turning around, lifting herself onto the back of it. "How long you been hanging around Toretto and his crew?" He had been there at the garage, and now at the race with them.

It was an innocent enough question. "He took me in when I was sixteen, gave me shelter and a job. Been with him ever since."

Mykie nodded, smile growing crooked as it widened. "That's nice of him. Did he do that to all of you?" Quickly, she added, "Sorry if this is too personal! I'm just new to town, and it's always nice to see such a tight knit group."

"Nah, man. It's fine." Jesse smiled and joined her on the car, patting her knee. "But yeah, he took us all in. Except for Mia, of course. But he's been there for all of us, given us a second chance."

Mykie's smile was gentler this time around, glancing over when she caught the sounds of roaring engines getting closer. "He's one of those people that have a gravitational pull to them, isn't he?"

Jesse considered it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess he is." Starting to feel jittery, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. "Want one?" He offered, sticking one between his teeth. Mykie shrugged and took it. Jesse lit his, and was about to hand her the lighter when she leaned in, lighting the end of her cigarette off of his.

Eyes a little wide, he sat back and inhaled a drag. Dom pulled up, along with the other racers. Brian was way behind, coming in slowly. Jesse slid off of the car and, surprising the shit out of her, grabbed Mykie and pulled her along. He clapped Dom on the back, smiling brightly. The much larger man glanced at the girl on the younger's arm, surprised to see that it was Mykie.

"Congrats on winning the races, Street King." She smiled, a slight mocking tone to her words. He rolled his eyes, but smiled lightly.

Brian pulled up behind the other racers, smoke coming out from under his hood. He was grinning as he got out of the car. As soon as Jesse saw the car, he let go of Mykie and ran over to it. She followed, standing at his side, looking curious as he lifted the hood.

"Did you have fun?" Jesse snapped, setting up the stand to hold the hood up. As soon as the hood opened, a lot more smoke poured out. Mykie wrinkled her nose at the smell that came from the engine.

"Jesus Christ," she commented, taking a step back.

Dom noticed the large grin on Brian's face. "What are you smiling about?"

"Dude," Brian pointed at Dom, "I almost had you." Everyone laughed around them.

"You almost had me?" Dom questioned, a large smirk on his face. "You never had me. You never had your car." Everyone 'oh'ed. "Granny shifting, not double-clutching like you should. You're lucky the hundred shot of NOS didn't blow the intake." Dom walked around the car, looking it over, before coming to a stop at the fin. "Almost had me? Now me and the mad scientist gotta rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried."

Jesse helped put the hood back down, wrapping his arm back around Mykie's waist. She leaned into it,arms crossed over her chest.

"Ask any racer, any real racer. It doesn't matter if you win by an inch, or a mile. Winning's winning." Everyone cheered in agreement, and the smile on Brian's face dimmed a little.

Breaking the moment, Leon called out, "Cops, cops, cops!"

Everyone scattered, running off to their cars. Jesse tried pulling Mykie with him, but she looked back at her brother. "I'm sorry, Jesse, but I gotta go with my brother. Make sure he makes it out." Without waiting for his reply, she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before running into the Skyline.

Instead of opening the door, she grabbed the roof of the car and slid in through the window. Brian took off, following after Dom.

When they found him running up an alley, Mykie quickly crawled into the backseat. They pulled up next to Dom, slowing down. "Get in!" Mykie called out, reaching around to pull her seatbelt around her. Dom jumped inside the car, glancing back at the cop.

They went around a corner, missing an approaching car by only inches. Ahead, two cops started driving towards them.

"Woah, woah!" Dom shouted, wondering just how crazy the blond next to him was. Though, that quickly changed to wondering about the other blonde, when she started cackling from the back.

Brian slid between the two cop cars easily, not even bumping into them. They went over the hill, the Skyline becoming airborne for a few seconds before hitting the ground. They'd managed to escape the cops, though, and that was good.

"You're the last person I'd expected to show up." Dom commented, glancing back at Mykie in the rearview.

"Yeah, well I thought if I got into your good graces, you'd let me keep my car." Brian replied, shifting gears.

Dom nodded, "You are in my good graces, but you ain't keeping your car. You drive like you've done this before. What are you, a wheel man?"

"Nah." Brian shook his head.

"You boost cars?" Dom questioned. Before Brian could answer, Mykie held her hand up in the back excitedly.

"I have! It was fun." Brian glanced back at his sister, trying to tell her to shut up with a single look. She paused, corner of her mouth pulling up into a smirk. "What? I had fun in England, bro." Easy enough cover up, and it wasn't a lie.

"Ever done time?"

Mykie made a face from the back and move the seatbelt, leaning between the two front seats. "What is this, twenty questions?" Brian removed a hand from the wheel, shoving her face back with his hand. "Rude ass."

"A couple of overnighters, no big deal." Brian replied, looking over at Dom. The man looked back at Mykie, wondering what her answer would be.

"Who do you think he shared a cell with?" She smirked, eyes lighting up in mischief.

"What about the two years in juvie for boosting cars?" Dom looked over at Brian, smirking slightly. Brian looked over, not surprised that they looked him up. Dom chuckled. "Yeah, I had Jesse run a profile on Brian Earl Spilner. You'll find anything on the web, anything. Anything about anybody."

Mykie cut in, resting her chin on Dom's shoulder as she leaned forward. He glanced down at her, getting nothing but a bunch of curly hair in the face. "Bet you couldn't find shit on me." She sang, smiling at him.

"No, we couldn't." Dom admitted. Mykie stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's 'cause my real name ain't Mykie. But don't think I'm going to tell you what it really is." She pointed a finger at him, leaning back in her seat.

Dom shook his head, chuckling lightly. "So why the bullshit?"

Brian glanced at him, not saying anything. There was silence in the car for a few seconds, before he asked, "What about you?"

Dom looked over at Brian before saying quietly, "Two years in Lompoc."

Mykie whistled lowly. "Damn, that's rough."

"I'll die before I go back." Dom looked out of the window, jaw clenched.

Brian looked at him before glancing at Mykie in the rearview mirror. She just shrugged.

Behind them, a group of bikers pulled up. Mykie turned around, frowning at them. "What the hell?"

"Ah, great." Dom groaned, sitting back in his seat. Just what this night needed.

Brian looked at him, brows furrowed. "What?"

"It's going to be a long ass night, that's what." He replied.

Mykie looked over, catching the sight of a gun strapped to the biker's waist. She frowned, suddenly wishing she had brought more than a knife with her to the races. Still, maybe she's have a decent chance, even if she did bring a knife to a gunfight.

The biker tapped onto the window with the gun, making her shy away from the glass. "Follow us!"

"I thought that shit only went down with Chinatown in the movies." Mykie mumbled, undoing her seatbelt. They pulled into a place that had a Chinese arch at the front, with T.K Food Market on it, in both Chinese and English.

They pulled to a stop, bikes surrounding them. Dom and Brian got out, Mykie following after her brother once she slipped the knife from her boot into her pocket. She was tense, counting how many guns they were outnumbered with. Too many, she concluded.

"I thought we had an agreement," Johnny Tran chuckled. "You stay away, I stay away? Everybody stays happy."

"We got lost. What do you want me to tell you?" Dom questioned.

"Who's we?" Tran asked. Dom nodded to the twins.

"Um- my new mechanics. Brian, Mykie, meet Johnny Tran. The guy in the snakeskin pants, that's his cousin Lance. Hey, when are you going to give me a shot at that Honda 2000 of your's?"

Mykie clenched her fists, shifting into a better stance in case this did break out into a fight. These people made her uneasy, and she'd sooner go back to London than stay in the same town as the creepy cousin, who kept looking at her.

"This your ride?" Tran stepped up to the Skyline, looking it over before looking at the twins.

"It was, it's his now." Brian nodded to Dom.

Dom quickly cut in. "No it's not, I haven't taken delivery." The twins shot him a confused look.

"Then it's nobody's car. Somebody put in a lot of time to it." Tran ran his hand over it, the plastic squeaking under it. "What do you think, Lance?"

Lance stepped forward, gun raised. "It's an amazing machine."

Tran smiled, "Yes indeed." He patted Dom's arm roughly, walking away. "Let's go. I'll see you in the desert next month, be ready to have your ass handed to you."

"You're going to need more than that crotch rocket." Dom threw back.

Tran smirked, "I got something for 'ya."

Lance stepped up to Mykie and she tensed, fists clenched so tight that her knuckles turned white. The gun was still in his hand, but she could see that the safety was on. His hand snapped up, grabbing her jaw roughly.

"Hey, what the fuck!" Brian went to step forward, but the rest of Tran's goons raised their guns at him.

With everyone else distracted by that, Mykie had slipped the knife out and clenched in her hand. She glared up at Lance, eyes so cold it could freeze over Hell. "You're a pretty thing, aren't 'ya? What're doing hanging around a bunch of slobs like these?"

The knife in her hands snapped open, the tip of the blade digging into the fabric of his jeans. It was difficult to talk with his hand so tight around her face. "Unless you want a surprise circumcision, get your hand off of my face." She warned, knife digging in just a centimeter further. It was enough to intimidate the man, though, and he let go of her face, stepping back.

"No need to get feisty, snowflake." He purred, and her lips curled back in disgust.

Tran looked at his cousin, barking out an order. "Lance, let's go." The man looked reluctant to leave, and the look he gave Mykie sent a gross shiver down her spine. Everyone got back onto their bikes and left.

"You alright?" Brian asked as soon as they were gone, stepping up to her. Unlike Lance, he grabbed her face gently, tilting it up and to the side so he could see it better in the limited light they had. Her jaw was a little red, but wouldn't start bruising until later.

She smiled at him, hand wrapped around his wrist to pull it away. "I'm good, Bri. He's not the nastiest guy I've dealt with and you know it."

Brian put a hand on her back, looking at Dom with barely concealed anger. "What the hell was that?"

He opened the door, glancing at the other blonde. She stood up straight and walked over to her side of the car. "Long story, I'll tell you later. Let's get out of here." He pulled the seat up for Mykie to get in.

Just as she was halfway into the car, Lance and Tran quickly returned. They started shooting, and Dom grabbed her around the waist and all but yanked her from the car. The back of her head hit the top of the car on the way out, causing her to grind her teeth as a sharp pain traveled around the crown of her head.

It caught fire, and the two left just as quick as they had come. Mykie shoved her way out of Dom's arms, smelling something familiar the same moment he did. "NOS!" Dom shouted, grabbing Mykie and covering her. Blue flames exploded from the car, sending it a few feet into the air.

"I fucking hate tonight." She said, staring at the ruined car with wide eyes. "I regret coming back to California so much." Despite the fact that the car was Brian's absolute favorite car, it was a cool little explosion.

Brian walked up to her and held a hand out, which she took gratefully. He hauled her to her feet, checking her over for any injuries. There was no bleeding and no obvious wounds on her. "Good? Again?"

She nodded, rubbing the back of her head. It was a little tender from getting bumped against the car, but it wasn't anything serious. "Yeah. You?" He nodded, so she turned to Dom. "You good?"

Surprised to even be included in her worry, he nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"What the actual fuck, Dom?" Brian snapped, staring at the car in sadness.

They started walking out of the parking lot, leaving it behind. "It's a long story."

Mykie put her hands on top of her hand, finding it a lot easier to breathe that way, walking between the two men. "Well, we got time. We do have a couple miles to walk, now."

Brian grumbled, "More like a twenty mile hike. Humor us."

"Wow. That was dumb." Mykie commented, voice light. She yawned, starting to feel drained after the day she had.

"Yeah, I know." Dom chuckled.

They walked a few miles before getting back into the city. Mykie got them a cab, after the first few failed attempts that the boys made.

They climbed in, Brian first and Mykie in the middle. She leaned on Brian, feeling her eyes get heavy. The boys started talking quietly on the ride back to the Toretto house, not that Mykie minded. She fell asleep, going limp against Brian. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her, continuing his conversation with Dom.

"You're really close to her, aren't you?" He questioned. Brian smiled and looked down at his sister.

"Yeah, we are." The cop chuckled, glancing out of the window. "It wasn't always like this, believe it or not. There was a time when she actually hated my guts. Those were the early teenage years." He shivered, causing Dom to chuckle lightly.

"I remember going through that with Mia." He commented, looking down at the smaller blonde. She definitely looked a lot calmer while unconscious.

"It sucked." Brian grinned, smoothing his hand down her hair. She sighed, any tension in her body leaving.

Dom nodded, chuckling. "Oh, it sure as hell did."

* * *

 ** _Dunno if it's still necessary to put this in fanfictions these days, but this is a small disclaimer to say that I don't own the Fast and Furious franchise and this is purely for creative purposes. The only thing I do own are my characters._ **

**I saw Fate of the Furious the other day and it really kickstarted my love for the movies and fic up again, so I started working on the rewrite of We Are Young. I'm glad to finally be redoing this fic.**

 **Also. Guys. Why the hell did nobody tell about the awful spelling errors in the original? It was so bad.**

 **Tell me what you think!**


	2. Gravity

When they pulled up to the Toretto house, Brian almost felt guilty for having to wake his sister up. He'd seen the obvious bags under her eyes, before she covered them with makeup, and knew she wasn't sleeping as well as she should. Shrugging it off, he shook her shoulder to try to wake her up.

"Mykie, get up," he said quietly. Dom got out and paid the cab driver, ignoring Brian's insistence on paying half. "Mykie, c'mon." The girl just shifted, clinging onto her brother. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and she had a leg thrown over his waist. He sighed and opened his door, slowly climbing out and supporting his sister with his arm.

"She sure is tiny." Dom commented, watching Brian step back from the cab so it could drive away.

Almost as if awakened by the sheer mention of her height, Mykie yawned. She untangled herself from Brian and groaned, stretching her arms above her head. "Bitch, I'm not tiny. I'm _tall enough_ ," she grumbled, giving Dom a sleepy glare. He just chuckled and ruffled her hair, causing her to pout.

Brian grabbed her arm and started leading her away. "Take care," he called out.

Dom walked up the porch steps before pausing. "Yo, Spilner!" Both stopped and turned to look at him in question. "Want a beer?"

Brian glanced at his sister, who shrugged. She didn't care what they did, but she wasn't going to say no to a party and free drinks. "Yeah, sure." They both started walking back to the house, climbing the steps.

Dom had stepped inside only seconds before. He took in the scene before him, his anger steadily rising. His crew was sitting around, doing absolutely nothing. Not even worried. Vince was playing his guitar, trying to impress some girls. Letty was on the floor playing a video game. Leon was talking to a girl in his lap. Nobody even bothering to fucking go out and look for him.

When the Leon noticed him, he quickly sat up and tried to excuse himself. "Yo, Dom. We were just about to go looking for you, brot-" Dom knocked the beer out of his hands before he could finish his sentence, stomping off to his next victim. Leon scowled after the man, but quickly wiped the look off his face when he turned back to the beauty in his lap.

Dom stormed over to Vince, whose guitar cut off mid-strum at the sight of the larger man. "Where were you?" He demanded.

"There were mass cops there, man. They came in from every direction, that shit was orchestrated." Vince defended himself. Dom grabbed the beer next to him and held it up.

"This yours?" He questioned. Vince nodded and he took it, grabbing another unopened beer for Mykie. He glanced over to the kitchen, finding Jesse sitting at the table with a cigarette in his hands. "Your girl's back," he called and Jesse looked at him, confused.

Mykie and Brian had just stepped in, closing the door behind them. Almost immediately, the older twin was grinning. The beat of the music, the party energy that was going around... She loved it.

"You alright?" Letty questioned, getting up off of the floor. Dom stopped, staring at her.

"Am I alright?" He echoed, stepping closer.

"It was just a question." Letty slowly bit out, glaring up at him.

Vince had noticed the newcomers, and was not happy about it. "Yo, Dom! Why'd you bring the Buster and his bitch here?"

Mykie couldn't stop from rolling her eyes. Having been called worse names than that, plus Rome affectionately calling her a _crazy white bitch_ almost every time she'd seen him, it didn't affect her.

Dom turned around, pointing at the two, "Because the Buster and the bitch kept me out of handcuffs!" He shouted, anger clear as day in his voice. "They didn't just run back to the fort. _They_ brought _me_ back."

Vince straightened up, jaw clenching.

Dom turned back to the twins and smirked, holding up the three beers in his hands. "You can have any brew you want, as long as it's Corona."

Mykie's nose scrunched up as she looked at the beer. "Sorry, but I'm not exactly a Corona fan. If you have any vodka, though, I'm down..."

"Aw man, you better get out of my house if you don't drink Corona." Dom joked, setting the bottle meant for her aside. He handed Brian his beer, "This is Vince's, so enjoy it." They both turned to the man. Vince tried to stop him, but the blonde just wiped off the top of the bottle with his shirt and took a sip from it. Vince leaned back, face twitching as he tried to hold back from beating the Buster to a bloody pulp.

"Hey man, you got a bathroom?" Brian questioned. Mykie made a face.

"What house wouldn't have a bathroom, Bri?" He rolled his eyes at her and shoved her shoulder.

Dom chuckled at their antics. "Upstairs, first door on your right." He turned to Mykie, throwing an arm over her shoulder, careful not to pull at her curls. "Jesse is in the kitchen, if you want to see him."

Mykie looked up at him, brow raised. "Jesse? Why would I want to-?"

Dom chuckled and removed his arm, giving her a gentle push towards the kitchen. "I saw how you two clicked. Now go."

Mykie smiled at him before walking into the kitchen. Jesse didn't look up from messing with the deck of cards in his hands, giving her the perfect opportunity to sneak up behind him. She reached around, pulling the cigarette from between his teeth. He jumped, startled by her sudden appearance. "Hey there, pretty boy," she greeted, pulling a chair out and sitting next to him.

"Mykie!" Jesse cheered and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into his lap. She was startled for a moment, but let him. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, but he didn't even look remotely tipsy. "I didn't know you were comin'."

Mykie shifted, getting comfortable on Jesse's lap. She threw her arm around his neck, idly playing with the side of his beanie. "I didn't either," she chuckled. "But Dom offered my twin and I a drink, and who's going to say no to free liquor?" She took a drag from the cigarette, knocking the ashes off after. She handed it back to Jesse, letting him take a puff.

Jesse laughed, leaning in and nuzzling her neck. "Nobody says no to free liquor, doll." She smiled, reaching up and patting his cheek. Physical contact was never a problem for Mykie. In fact, she embraced it. Enjoyed it, even. She was definitely the cuddler in the family.

He smiled at her for a moment before he leaned in, and she could smell the alcohol and smoke on his breath even easier now. She let him make the first move, a small smirk on her face. He kissed her, and she couldn't help but sigh into it, her free hand going up to wrap her arms around his neck. Mykie expected for him to kiss like how he had acted; nervous, energetic, all over the place. Maybe if they had more alcohol in them, it would have been like that, but for now they traded lazy kisses, neither of them in a hurry.

She hadn't expected it to start hurting to soon, but when Jesse brought his hand up to cradle the side of her face, it ached and stung. She hissed, jerking away from the kiss, handing going up to cover the bruise that was slowly making it's way towards looking more blue and purple under the skin. "Shit."

"Did I do something?" He asked, looking at her with eyes wide in panic. She shook her head, flexing her jaw, but even that hurt.

"No, we had a run in with that Tran guy and his creepy ass cousin, Lance or whatever." She explained, grabbing Jesse's cold beer and holding it up against the side of her face. That gave her some relief, at least. "Fucker thought he had the right to grab me."

Jesse frowned, rubbing her hip bone with his thumb in comfort. "The Tran family can be pretty nasty. I'd stay away from them, Mykie." He warned, but she just shrugged.

"You should've seen the shit I got up to in Europe, man. These guys ain't nothing." She wasn't scared of Tran, or Lance, but the man made her uneasy. She stood up, placing Jesse's beer back down. "I'll be right back."

On her way to the stairs, she passed Brian. He grabbed her arm, stopping her and giving her a concerned look. "I see you getting friendly with that Jesse kid. Be careful, alright Mykie?"

She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, baby bro. I know what I'm doing." He nodded and let go of her so that she could continue going upstairs.

Jesse got up from the table and joined Vince and Leon, who were beginning to crowd in on Brian. "You wipe the seat?" Vince questioned, tone snappy. Brian glanced around in case he needed an out, catching a gun half-hidden under a bag of chips on a table nearby. Vince took a step forward, fists clenched at his sides.

Having noticed them as soon as they started to circle the blonde, Mia rushed over. "Oh Jesus Christ, will you cut this shit out?! C'mon!" Mia shoved him away from the blonde, giving Vince a dirty look. "C'mon, let's go get me a drink."

"Oh, come on Mia!" Leon complained. "We were just about to get along."

Mykie walked down the stairs, combat boots creating dull thuds on the stairs. "Yeah, looking like you're about to beat my brother's ass sure is 'getting along'," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She glanced over, catching her brother and Mia walking out. She frowned, but didn't follow.

Jesse walked up to her and she smiled, letting him grab her hand and pull her close to him. "You want to go upstairs to my room?" He asked her quietly, slipping his hand from her's and wrapping it around her waist. His hand brushed against her side and she felt her breath stutter as pain burst from it, but she ignored it and smiled at him.

She glanced up and saw Vince watching her with a glare, obviously suspicious of her. She smirked, and watched in satisfaction as his eyebrow twitch from anger. "As much as I'd like to, I don't want to fuck while my brother is in the same house."

"Alright. Fine by me," he grinned, burying his face in her shoulder.

Mia and Brian walked back out from where they kept drinks, the twins easily finding each other in the crowd. "Want a ride home?" Mia asked her, and she nodded.

"Bye, Jesse." Mykie put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in, kissing his cheek. Leon 'oh'ed, causing her to roll her eyes. "Later, boys." She held up a peace sign, stepping around them and following the two out of the house.

* * *

The next day, Harry gave them a list of parts he needed picking up and sent the twins on their way. Mykie dove into the driver's side, sitting in the seat before Brian could. She stuck her tongue out at him, waiting for him to get in on the other side and give her the keys.

Not even twenty minutes on the road, and a cop car had pulled up behind them and turned on their lights. Mykie cussed, glancing at the speedometer. She wasn't speeding, for once, so she didn't know why they were getting pulled over.

"Shit, are these your boys?" She asked Brian, considering trying to ditch the cops. She hadn't exactly been friendly with the police in England, and she didn't want to find out if the Feds in the US knew about it. Her brother looked at the side mirror and nodded so she stopped.

"Show me your hands." A voice said from the intercom. Brian scowled, putting his hands out of his window. Mykie sighed and followed, after shutting off the engine. "Very good, now open the door." The twins followed, opening the door and stepping out. "Put your hands on your head, behind your head, face the front of the vehicle and walk backwards towards the rear."

Mykie looked at her brother, catching the pissed look on his face. But it wasn't directed at her, for once. "Take two steps to your right, sir. Ma'am, two steps to your left. Stop right there." The two officers came up and started to pat them down.

Brian's superior officer, Tanner, paused and pulled a knife out of Mykie's pocket. "What's this for, huh?" He questioned, glancing at Brian. It was a folding knife and openly carried, so they couldn't do anything about it. Brian didn't even look surprised that his sister had it.

Mykie gave him a dry look, lips twisting down. "I'm a skinny, short woman in a huge city. Excuse me for wanting some self defense."

"What'd we do?" Brian asked, but got no answer.

"He's clean, Sarge." Tanner smirked and nodded at the officer. They put the twins in handcuffs and shoved them into the back of the car.

"So you actually know these dudes, Bri?" Mykie questioned, whispering quietly. He nodded and she sighed, leaning back in her seat. "Why did I have to come with? I'm actually getting paid at Harry's, and have shit to do."

Brian chuckled, bumping his shoulder with her's. "Sorry, Mykie." She rolled her eyes before closing them, tipping her head back on the seat.

She reached into the back pocket of her jeans, finding a bobby pin she had shoved in it and left. Keeping her face neutral, she started to work on picking the lock.

They arrived at the base of operations and got out. "Muse, will you take these things off? I mean, shit, you put 'em on so tight." Brian groaned, sliding out of the car.

Mykie followed, taking the cuffs off of her wrists while she climbed out. She held them up, letting Muse snatch them out of her hands. "At least do a better job next time making sure I don't have anything to pick them with. Bobby pins can be hidden anywhere."

Tanner stepped ahead and opened the gate. "You never know who's watching, Brian."

"So what am I supposed to do now? Y'all are doing classified shit, and I'm not exactly with the LAPD, so..." Mykie trailed off, glancing between the three men. "And can I have my knife back?" She held her hand out and Muse pulled it out of his pocket, giving it to her.

They followed Tanner inside the gates and Mykie's eyes widened, taking in the area. It was a nice house, she had to admit.

"You can stay outside until I'm done, I guess." Brian shrugged, looking at Tanner. He nodded in approval. Mykie sighed and threw her hands up, walking away from the group to go back to the small bride.

"Whatever, man." She groaned, stopping in the middle of the bridge. She climbed on top of the side wall, sitting down with her feet hanging over it. After a few minutes, she got restless and shifted, laying down on the top of the side wall. She threw her arms over her face, shielding her eyes from the sun.

When Brian and Tanner walked back out of the house, they found Mykie walking on the wall. She had her arms out, easily keeping her balance. "Is Harry cooperative?" Tanner questioned.

"Yeah, like a guy that's going to do three to five for receiving stolen property if he doesn't." Brian answered, stopping to watch his sister. It had been years since she had gone to a gymnastics class, yet she could still easily do it.

She put her hands up above her head and bent backwards, lifting up into a handstand. Mykie smiled at her brother, lifting a hand and waving at him.

"And what does he think of Toretto?"

Mykie walked on her hands down the bridge wall, turning on her hands and letting her feet drop back onto the ground once Tanner and Brian passed her. "That man is scared to death of Dom," she commented.

"He doesn't think he's jacking trucks in his spare time, either." Brian added. Mykie rushed at him and jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around him. He caught her, barely disturbed by the weight. "He's too controlled for that."

Tanner stopped Brian, glancing at Mykie. It was common knowledge in town on what Toretto had done, so he continued. "Wait. Not that I want to contradict Harry's fine judge of character, but Toretto did hard time for nearly beating a guy to death. He's got nitrous oxide in his blood, and a gas tank for a brain. Do not turn your back on him."

Brian nodded and patted him on the arm to try to reassure him. "Hey Tanner, I'm going to need another car."

A couple days later, and Brian had the car he wanted. A '95 Toyota Supra found in a scrap yard and looking like a busted piece of metal. Mykie took a peek inside, and almost died and went to Heaven once she saw the 2JZ engine inside. They loaded it up onto a tow truck and Mykie followed Brian to Toretto's garage in her Camaro.

She took the turn first, stopping at the end of the small road. Brian followed, backing the tow truck up until the car was right in front of the opening of the garage. Everyone inside stopped what they were doing and walked to the front.

Dom took one look at the car and asked, "What the hell is this? What do you got there?"

The twins got out of their vehicles, meeting up between them and stepping up to the edge of the garage. Mykie grinned, sliding her Ray Bans off of her face to sit on top of her head. She gestured to the mess of a car with her arm. "This, my good sir, is your ten second car."

Dom grinned, pointing to himself. "My car? I said a ten-second car, not a ten-minute car."

Jesse walked up to the bed of the truck, looking at the car. "You could push this across the finish line. Or tow it." The crew, being only Mia, Letty, and Jesse that day, laughed.

"You couldn't even tow it across the finish line," Dom corrected, snorting at the piece of junk. Mykie stuck her tongue out at him, throwing her arm over Jesse's shoulder. Out of reflex, he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"No faith!" Brian shook his head.

"Oh, I have faith in you," Dom argued, "but this isn't a junk yard, this is a garage." Brian nodded to Mykie and she jumped onto the bed of the truck, pulling Jesse up with her.

"Pop the hood." Brian told her.

Dom questioned him, but Brian just repeated himself and grinned at Mykie. Her and Jesse worked on unloading the car, pushing it into the garage. Jesse popped the hood, which promptly fell off as soon as he did. Mykie covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"A 2JZ engine, no shit!" Jesse breathed, looking inside. Mykie leaned into him, bumping his hip with her's.

"That's exactly what I said when I saw it." She agreed, nodding her head.

Dom nodded, looking impressed. "I retract my previous statement."

"You know what? This will decimate all after you put about fifteen grand in it, or more. If we have to, overnight parts from Japan." Jesse explained, throwing his arm over Mykie's shoulder. Dom told him to put it on his tab at Harry's, and Jesse cheered. He leaned over, taking a closer look inside of the car. Mykie joined him, leaning on the car on her side.

Dom pointed the crowbar in his hand at Brian, telling him, "I gotta get your ass racing again, so I can make some money off your ass. There's a show down in the desert called Race Wars, and that's where you'll do it." He turned and pointed the crowbar at Mykie, who pushed up off of the car to stand up straight. "You race, too?"

Mykie smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah. Not as often as Bri, but I do."

Brian looked at his sister. "How was the racing scene in Europe, anyways? You haven't told me yet."

"It's pretty wicked." She grinned, nodding her head. "I had some fun over there, definitely."

"How about this." Dom started, dropping the crowbar to his side. "You want to stick with your brother, you race for me. When you're not working at Harry's with him, you're working in here on the car. You can't find the right tool in this garage, Mister and Missus Arizona, you don't belong near a car."

Mia walked up to Brian, leaning in. "He owns you two now."

Mykie paused from where she was talking with Jesse, glancing over at the brunette. "That's a little worrisome."

She just smirked and walked out of the garage. Mykie looked at Brian, but he just shrugged.

While they were in the middle of working a few days after, Jesse pulled them over to the computer. He sat down in the chair, Mykie leaning against the back. He slipped in the floppy disk for the Supra and started up the program to show them the specs for the car.

"Tell me what you think about this; Koni adjustables, gonna save us about two pounds, and they're gonna give us better traction for the hole shot. Alright?" Jesse clicked on a few things, "This is your basic layout of the car." Some more clicking. "And that's pretty much what it could look like when it's finished. Red, green, whatever." He waved his hand and Mykie leaned over, stealing the cigarette of it. He made a noise of complaint, but she just smiled and inhaled a drag.

Brian glanced at his sister before commenting, "Man, you should be going to MIT or something."

Jesse glanced at him, smiling humorlessly. "Yeah, right. Nah, I got that...what's it called? That attention disorder..."

"ADD?" Mykie supplied, handing him back the cigarette.

"Yes, that shit." Jesse nodded. "I was good in algebra, and math, and shit. Everything else, I failed. Dropped out of school. I don't know, it's just something about engines that calms me down, y'know?"

The twins nodded. Brian looked at Mykie and grinned. "Yeah, Mykie's kind of the same way. Dunno how she's got so much energy, but she's constantly fidgeting and moving. Music and cars calm her down, though."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up about it, Buster." She mocked, sticking her tongue out at him. He scowled and shoved her, knocking her over. She tripped, falling on her ass. Brian starting laughing at her, so she retaliated by kicking him off of his stool.

"Bitch." He grumbled, picking himself off of the floor.

"Dick." She retorted, grinning. Brian sighed and held out a hand, helping her up. "We should get back to working on the cars." Her brother nodded and they walked over, Mykie waving at Jesse as they left his little area.

She ends up helping Dom and Brian with the Supra for a while, before going to Letty to see what she was up to. "Fuck, it's hot," she complained to her, pulling at her collar to try to fan herself off. She wanted nothing more than to take her shirt off to cool down, but couldn't with the bandages wrapped around her.

The dark haired woman laughed at her, making the blonde pout. "You're from Arizona, aren't you supposed to be used to the heat?"

"Yeah, and I was. Then I went to Europe and lost all my resistance to it." She sighed, dramatic and exaggerated. "It's why I'm white as fuck now, too. I used to have a killer tan."

Letty laughed at her before shoving her shoulder, telling her to get her ass back to work.

Later on towards the end of the day, when the sun was starting to go down and it was somewhat cooling off, Dom invited everyone back to the house for dinner. The twins included. To say they were shocked was an understatement.

It was just her, Brian, Dom, Mia, and Jesse at the house. Leon, Letty, and Vince had gone to get more groceries for the cookout.

"Hey Mykie, wanna play basketball?" Jesse suggested, pulling the ball out of the garage. The girl shrugged and he passed it to her. They played for a couple of minutes, Jesse using the height difference against her. She was decent enough, but he was still ahead of her by a few points- not that anybody was really keeping track.

The game quickly ended when the rest of the crew pulled up, distracting Mykie. Jesse accidentally knocked into her, both of them falling onto the concrete.

Mykie yelped, but landed on her back more than her head. Jesse was on top of her, hands bracing himself up at the sides of her head. "Shit, Mykie! I'm sorry!" He scrambled onto his feet, grabbing her hands and pulling her up.

"It's fine, Jay. It was my fault for getting distracted." She chuckled, shaking the dirt out of her hair and ignoring the sharp sting in her side. Standing next to Dom and helping him cook, Brian was laughing his ass off. Mykie flipped him off, lips pulled down into a scowl.

Vince took one look at the twins and handed his bags to Leon. "I'm outta here," he growled, stomping back to his car.

Dom called out to him, "Vince, get over here and give us a hand!"

"Looks like you got all the help you need, brother!" Vince shouted back, getting into his car and taking off. Mykie rolled her eyes and nudged Jesse, smiling at him.

Dom just shook his head and went back to grilling the chicken. Mykie stayed clear of it before Brian could force her to help with the grill, going inside with Jesse to help Mia with the rest of the food instead. She grabbed a bowl of potato salad, Mia grabbing the regular salad, while Jesse grabbed the corn. Brian came in and grabbed the Coronas, finding a bottle of Smirnoff in the back left over from other parties.

Dom sat at the head of the table, Leon on the other end. Mia was to her brother's left, Letty beside her. Mykie took her seat between the two, across from Jesse and her brother. Jesse was the first one to reach in and grabbed a piece of chicken, putting it on his plate. Dom stopped him, smirking.

"Because you were the first out of everybody to reach in to get the chicken, you get to say grace." The twins were surprised by that. Who knew that the infamous Dom Toretto was a religious man?

"Dear Heavenly...uh-"

Leon grinned and helped out, "Spirit."

"Spirit, thank you." Jesse nodded at him and Leon winked. "Uh, thank you for providing us with direct port nitrous, uh, injection." Mykie couldn't help but smile at him. She glanced over and saw that Brian was as well. "For four core intercoolers, and ball bearing turbos, and, um, titanium valve springs." The crew clapped, everyone saying their 'amen's. Mykie nudged Jesse with her foot, giving him a smile. He returned in, looking relieved to be done.

"Not bad," Dom complimented.

"Praying to the car gods, man." Letty added, grinning. The food started getting passed around, and Mykie was immediately reaching for the chicken.

"Well, look who it is!" Leon exclaimed, watching Vince slowly approach the table. "Old Coyote's 'R' Us! I thought you weren't hungry, pumpkin?"

Vince shrugged, "You know, I gotta eat."

Letty sneered, adding, "He's always hungry." Dom sighed and waved the man over, telling him to sit down. Vince joined the crew, kissing the top of Dom's head as he passed. He walked around the table, stopping behind Mykie's chair. She could feel his glare on her back, but ignored it and took a bite of her food.

"You're in my spot." He snapped. Mykie rolled her eyes and glanced up at him, fork still in her mouth.

"There's another chair, right there." She pointed to the vacant one between Jesse and her brother. That was just a recipe for disaster, but she wanted to see if he'd piss off without it having to get into a fight.

"Or, how about you go sit next to your brother?" Vince retorted, clenching his jaw.

Mykie looked at her brother, raising an eyebrow. He smirked, taking a bite of his food, wondering what she would do. He didn't step in, knowing she could handle herself against a prick like Vince.

"You want to fight? Let's go then, grizzly. I've fought men twice your size and _won_ ," she growled, standing up and turning to face him. He glared at her and she huffed, rolling her eyes and shoving her way past him. She dropped her plate and sat down, smiling at Jesse.

"Let's eat some grub, man." Letty said, patting Vince's back roughly once he sat down.

After everyone was finished with their food, they piled inside to watch a movie. Letty and Dom took up the couch, leaving Leon and Jesse on the floor.

Mykie contemplated her options for a moment. Sit between the two, or go help her brother with Mia. She knew he wanted to have some alone time with her, but what kind of annoying big sister would she be if she didn't butt in?

Deciding to be nice for once, she sat down between the two on the floor.

Leon threw an arm over her shoulder, causing Jesse to scowl lightly and grab her waist, pulling her closer to him. Leon smirked, removing his arm.

"You'll never get rid of him now, Mykie." Dom joked, Letty in his lap. She shrugged, leaning her head on Jesse's shoulder.

"I'm cool with that." She commented, grabbing Jesse's hand and playing with it.

Halfway through the movie, Jesse started harassing Vince for some more popcorn. The man finally got up, stumbling from being a little drunk, and went into the kitchen to go get it. Mykie looked down at Jesse's hand, noticing that the paint was chipping.

"You got any nail polish?" She asked, wanting something more to do with her hands. Jesse looked at her, catching her starting to shift around from getting antsy. She was never good at watching movies while staying completely still. He nodded and got up, rushing upstairs to grab it from his room. He returned quickly and handed it to her.

"So what'd you do to get overnighters with your brother?" Jesse questioned, watching her unscrew the cap and get the excess polish off of the brush.

"Jesse!" Letty warned, but Mykie just waved her hand in dismissal.

"Nah, it's cool." She told her, focusing on his hand. "One charge is for assault- this one guy at a race tried grabbing my ass and I beat the shit out of him. Another is for GTA, frankly because I got bored and noticed that the guy never used his car. I mean, it was a beautiful '69 Impala, and he just let it sit in his driveway!" She ranted, waving her free hand around expressively. The crew chuckled. "I was doing the car a service, honestly."

"What'd you do with it?" Dom questioned, glancing away from the movie to her.

"I sold it to a racer. I already have my Camaro, what would I need an Impala for? I made, like, twelve grand off of it." She shrugged, finishing Jesse's hand sooner than she had wanted to. She moved onto her own nails, since the paint had either chipped or been picked off since she had done them.

Vince stormed back in, banging on the door. "Make your own goddamned popcorn!" Mykie rolled her eyes at him and finished her other hand.

"How'd you get into cars?" Leon asked out of nowhere. They'd all seen the movie before, so nobody was really paying any attention to it.

Mykie paused in her work, bring her hand up and brushing the hair out of her face with the back of her hand. "Probably about the same time Brian did. I was more interested in how they looked than how they worked at the time, but after, uh," she hesitated, looking down at the ground and chewing on her lip, "after our mom died, I all but dove into learning how the insides worked. I was super close to our mom, so when she passed I was severely depressed and almost got put into the hospital by Brian. Learning how the engine worked and working on them really helped me get through it."

"I'm sorry about your mom." Jesse said quietly, putting a hand on her leg.

She shrugged, looking up at him and smiling sadly. "Life happens. I only started getting better after Brian took me to my first race." Mykie chuckled, the dark mood lifting. "I got in way over my head, wanted to race against one of the guys..." She snorted, screwing the cap on the nail polish. "I got into a pretty bad crash. Ended up in the hospital with a pretty gnarly piece of glass in my collarbone."

The crew winced at the mental image. "Damn," Dom replied.

Brian and Mia finally walked in and joined the team in watching the movie. "It took months for me to let her go to another race. I was scared shitless of having that happen again."

"Do you have a scar?" Jesse asked, curious.

Mykie nodded and pulled the collar of her shirt down, turning so everyone could see it. Right above her collarbone, a medium scar stretched across the skin. "It sucks ass and aches every time it rains. So Europe was fun, but I was taking pain killers like every other day for this shit." She explained.

Jesse leaned forward, tracing it with the tip of his finger. Her breath hitched and she stilled, letting him continue.

"Dude, that's totally wicked!" He grinned, pulling back. Mykie returned the grin and let her shirt go so the collar slid back into place.

"I was thinking of covering it with a tattoo, but I think scars are badass. They show that you've fought battles, in this case an evil piece of glass, and won."

"That's a nice way of thinking about it." Mia complimented.

Mykie looked back at her and smiled.

Something in the back of her mind reminded her that she shouldn't get close to this family. Obviously, they had something to do with the case that Brian was working on, and he still refused to tell her about it. And if they ever found out that he was a cop, they'd hate both of the twins. Brian, for obvious reasons, and her, for keeping it a secret.

And yet, she found herself relaxing around them so easily. It was a struggle to figure, and she almost laughed out loud when she quickly realized something.

A couple days of knowing these guys, and she and her twin had pulled into Dom's orbit. Shit.

When it came down to it, and it undoubtedly will, she'd have to pick between the two. The family she is coming to enjoy being around so much, or her twin brother, who's been there for her through everything? Before, she would have picked her brother without any hesitation. But what if he was just pretending to get close to them for the case? Could she side with him, knowing he would later betray them?

Taking a glance back at her twin, she saw him cuddled up in a chair with Mia. The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't faking it; he was genuinely happy getting close to the family.

Well, Vince was an exception to both.

Feeling her gaze, Brian looked over and caught her look. He nodded his head discreetly, telling her without saying anything that he knew how much trouble he was in by the look on his face.

Jesse wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her back into him. She looked away from Brian and smiled at him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Whatever was going to come, was going to come. For now, she was going to enjoy the moment.

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 **Tell me what you think! Thanks so much for favoriting, following, and reviewing this fanfic (: Helps keep me motivated.**


	3. You've Been Hit By

**Small warning, this chapter includes the part where Tran tortures a guy with oil. It's not too graphic, if at all, but you've been warned. Enjoy!(:**

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The next day, the two went to work at Harry's. Brian worked at the cash register, while Mykie worked back in the garage. She gave a tune up to three cars before getting pulled out and instructed to clean the display cases, since the new girl was busy helping Brian at the register. It was a busy day, people going coming in and leaving almost as quick as they came once they got their order put in.

She stuck her portable CD player in her pocket, shaking her hips to the beat of Pink's' _Get This Party Started_ ' while taking the NOS tanks out of their case and setting them on the ground. Grabbing the glass cleaner from her belt loop, she sprayed some before wiping it down.

Mykie worked quickly, finishing the case before the song even finished. Music always helped make the time go by faster while she worked, and cleaning was no different.

She moved to the next case, setting down her energy drink so she could lift the tire out. Used to lifting tires and other heavy car parts on a regular basis, she didn't even struggle. The muscles in her biceps flexed, making it obvious to the few people watching her that she could hold her own if it came down to it. She set it aside, picking everything else up and putting them on the ground next to it.

Brian watched his sister move around, obvious to the rest of the world. She was bouncing all around, moving on the balls of her feet. In one hand, she had a rag and was cleaning. In the other, a can of NOS.

Mykie sang along as she danced while working, swerving around Hector and his crew when they walked in through the doors. They watched her for a moment, more than one staring at her ass as she moved, before continuing on their trip to the counter.

"Hired some new help, huh?" Hector asked once he was close enough, checking out the other cashier. Brunette, nice tits and ass. He smirked at her.

"Don't even think about it." Brian grinned, stepping up to the counter.

Hector smiled as they bumped fists. "What's up, man? How you feelin'?"

"Pretty good. So, what's up? What do you need?"

Hector smirked. "What's up? Man, I'm gonna need you to hook me up. Three of everything," he said bluntly. He fished around in his pocket before pulling out a piece of paper.

He unfolded it, handing it to Brian. "I made a list. Why don't you look that over?"

Brian took the list and scanned it. "When do you need this stuff by?" He asked. It was a couple of parts, would be pretty easy to put onto an order.

"Tomorrow, today, _now_."

He glanced up at the man before back at the computer. "Right?" Brian chuckled, bringing up the parts.

"C'mon, white boys work fast, don't they?" He joked. He turned to his friend and asked for the wad of cash he had.

Mykie bent down, picking up the tank of NOS in one hand to put it back in its place.

Suddenly, there was a loud, feminine yelp and the sound of someone getting the shit slapped out of them. "Where'd you get the idea that you can touch me, huh?" Mykie snapped, glaring at one of Hector's friends. There was a red hand print on his cheek in the exact shape of her hand, but he was still grinning. "Control your dogs, Hector," she growled, baring her teeth at the man.

"Hands to yourself, man." Hector gave his friend a warning look, and the man stomped off, giving Mykie a glare. "Sorry about that, Mykie."

Brian smirked and continued typing on the computer. He knew his sister could hold her own against men that get a little too touchy. Information on a Honda Civic showed up, the very same type of car that was being used to hijack the trucks. "You said you needed three of all this stuff?"

"Yeah, three of everything." Hector confirmed, taking the wad of cash from his friend and holding it out to Brian. "What do you think about that? Check this out."

Once Hector and his crew were gone, Brian pulled Mykie into the back. She pushed her headphones off, leaving them hanging around her neck. "I need your help with something tonight." He said quietly.

"And what would that be?" She questioned, glancing down to pause the CD.

"My case. There's been a group of people in three Honda Civics that are hijacking from trucks. And Hector just ordered three of everything on a list, a list that has the parts to the same exact type of car." He explained.

Mykie stared at him for a moment, putting her hands on her hips. "Okay. So what are you planning on doing?" She questioned, dreading what the answer would be.

He told her about breaking into Hector's garage later on to see if he's the man they need for the case he's working on, but she wasn't too happy about it.

They'd met Hector a couple of times at the races and twice at Dom's Sunday BBQ, and he was pretty nice. He was a major flirt with Mykie, and she gave back as good as she got, but it never went any further than that. Going behind a friend's back wasn't something she wanted to be involved in, but she rarely ever said no when Brian asked for help.

When their shifts were over, both of them headed out to Dom's garage. They were still working on the Supra, but Dom and Brian were doing most of the work for now.

Jesse was still working on the computer parts for it, but Mykie managed to catch him on the small break he was taking. He was relaxed back into his computer chair, lit cigarette hanging loosely from his fingers. "Hey, how 'ya doing, doll face?" He grinned, pulling her closer when she was near enough.

Mykie rolled her eyes but let him drag her over, moving so she could sit on his lap. The computer chair creaked suspiciously, but it didn't move so she brushed the small bit of concern for it aside. "Bored as hell, baby. Harry had me cleaning display cases today and I don't think I'm ever going to get the smell of damn cleaning chemicals off of me."

"Yeah, you do smell a bit funky," he teased and she smacked his arm. "You could always go take a shower. There's one in the bathroom up in Dom's office."

"You need one too, dude." She stole the cigarette from him, taking a drag and keeping it for the moment. "You smell like oil, which I don't see how if all you've been doing is software shit today."

Jesse grinned and her eyes narrowed, wondering what he was planning. "We could always conserve water and shower together," if he hadn't wiggled his brows in the most ridiculous way, she would have gotten up.

Mykie snorted, taking another drag before passing the cigarette back to him. "We wouldn't get any actual showering done. Plus, still weird when my brother's around."

"We could be quiet," he tried to argue, burying his face into her neck. She grunted, flinching when he nipped at the skin where her neck and shoulder met. It tickled and she did not want him finding out just how ticklish she was.

"Hate to tell you, babe, but I'm not in the mood." Before he could try anything else, because shit if her neck wasn't a weakness of her's, she climbed out of his lap. "Get back to work, 'ya nerd. I'mma gonna go help Letty."

Jesse watched her walk away, laughing when she put a dramatic sway to her hips. "Not in the mood, my ass!" He called out, and she responded by flipping him off without even turning back around. He snorted and turned back to the computer to start working again.

"You're such a tease," Letty grinned, nudging her when she came over to where her and Leon were working.

Leon watched Mykie shrug and grin, crossing his arms over his chest. "Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen Jesse take a shine to a girl like he has you," he commented, but she just glanced at him and didn't reply.

That night, Brian drove them to Hector's garage. They pulled into the back, driving without the headlights so they wouldn't be seen. The music from the party outside was loud enough that nobody heard them, which was good.

They got out, shutting the doors quietly. Mykie saw bars on a window and smirked, grabbing onto them and lifting herself up. She grabbed at the top of the roof and climbed, digging her boots into the brick wall for help. Brian followed after her easily, letting her take the lead to get inside the garage.

The twins jogged across the roof, stopping to look around the corner. The party was in full swing, so hopefully nobody would be coming over to the garage any time soon.

Brian was ready to break the glass on the window, when Mykie stopped him. She pulled her pocket knife out and opened it, sliding it between the panels. She moved it around, trying to unlock the window. After a half-minute of struggling and curses mumbled under her breath, she was successful. Brian pulled it open and she climbed inside, scanning the place. Nobody was inside.

She motioned that it was okay and Brian followed in.

Mykie couldn't help but wince when Brian rushed down the stairs, steps painfully loud in the silent room. She followed after him, going slow down the steps so she wouldn't make a sound. When she was low enough, she swung herself over the banister and dropped to the ground.

They looked around, shining their flashlights throughout the room. When they found the cars, Brian quietly told her what they were looking for, voice just barely loud enough for her to hear.

Mykie nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

None of the cars were black or had any underglow hooked up, but they did have spoon engines and the three T66 turbos with NOS and the MoTeC system exhaust that Hector had ordered earlier that day. They covered the cars back up and left.

Mykie found the pipe they'd used to climb up onto the roof, waited for Brian to climb down first, not wanting the man to slip and land on her. She heard a smack and a thud, and let herself fall the rest of the way to the ground to see what happened.

She twisted around and acted before even processing it, smacking the butt of the shotgun in Vince's hand down before it hit her face. Mykie let out a harsh gasp, forcing herself not to cry out when it slammed into her side instead. She curled into herself, head bowed, and that was all it took to get another hit, this one knocking her out.

Vince grabbed Mykie and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, dragging Brian by the jacket behind him. He pulled them into the fenced yard and dropped them, being a little more careful with Mykie.

Brian groaned as his head hit the ground again, waking up. His head ached and he was sure there was going to be a bruise.

Mykie curled into herself against, biting down on her lip to keep from crying. Her side ached and flared with pain but it was nowhere near as bad as when it first got hurt.

"He moans like a cop." Vince snapped, pointing his gun at the younger twin. Brian opened his eyes and saw the end of the barrel in his face. He put his hands over his head, looking up. He looked over at Mykie and quickly became angry when he saw her curled up and trembling.

"What the fuck did you do to my sister?!" He snapped, glaring at Vince. The man simply glared back, not answering him.

Out of the shadows stepped Dom, arms crossed over his chest. "Brian, this is one of those times when you need to be very clear on what you say. Nod if you understand me."

"Nod!" Vince yelled, the gun moving an inch closer to the blonde's face. He gave a small, tiny nod, sitting up when Dom told him to. He wanted to pull his sister closer, but feared that Vince was a little too trigger-happy at the moment.

"Tell me what the hell you're doing down here." He ordered.

Brian bent over, grasping at the back of his head in pain, breathing heavily. "What I'm doing... Dom, I owe you a ten-second car. And what this is about, this is about Race Wars." Vince kicked him, knocking him over. Brian glanced at him as he set himself back upright. He was spewing out the first bullshit he could think out, talking about Hector's cars and what he had in them.

Dom and Vince exchanged glances. Dom tilted his head at the man. "So what are you saying? You going to go around, check everyone's shit out, one garage after another?"

Brian looked from Dom to Vince, who still had the gun aimed at his head. "Yeah." He shakily stood up, glancing at Vince again before stepping towards Mykie, helping her stand up. She groaned, hand pressed against her side. She didn't pull it away, knowing it'd be bloody. "I can't lose again."

"They're cops," Vince said, glaring at the two. "They're cops!"

Dom walked out of the rest of the shadows, watching the two closely. "You cops?"

Brian didn't say or do anything, staring at Dom as he focused on breathing. The man looked at them, observing, before he smirked. "Let's go for a ride." He started walking, and the twins were hesitant to follow.

Vince jammed the tip of the gun into Brian's back, snapping at him. The two started walking, Vince behind them to make sure they didn't pull anything shifty.

Mykie was so focused on breathing and making it to the car without making a sound from the pain that she didn't notice Jesse up front at first. She jumped, startled when she heard his voice. "What's she doing here, Dom?"

"Being a super, awesome ninja with my brother." She answered before the man could, climbing into the back seat. With nobody watching her, she wiped her hand off on her pants, never more thankful to be wearing black than in that moment.

Fucking asshole made her side split back open.

Brian moved to sit on her right, and Vince sat on her left. Dom was up in the front, which Mykie was mildly jealous of.

It was completely silent while Jesse drove, which was obviously making the two go a little stir crazy. She shifted, tugging on the beanie around her head. With the windows up, it was getting stuffy while being squashed between the two.

They got out of the car, Mykie climbing out after being crammed between Vince and her brother. Talk about a tense ride...

"Be careful, Jay." She leaned into his window, placing a hand on his jaw and pulling him in for a chaste kiss. He nodded and she walked off to catch up to her brother.

Dom leaned into the open window, giving Jesse a hard stare. "Okay, you stand watch." The younger man nodded and took off to find a place to park and hide.

Mykie was the first to jump over the fence. Dom offered to pick her up and help, but she just smirked and ran at the gate. Planting her foot on the bottom bar, she used the leverage to jump up and grab the top rails. She reached and put her foot next to her hand, pulling herself up and dropping on the other side.

Brian rolled his eyes and climbed the gate, jumping over it. Vince and Dom glanced at each other before doing the same. The Spilner twins were something else.

The roof was easy to get up onto, compared to Hector's garage.

Vince opened the window hatch and they lowered themselves down. Vince and Brian made some sort of noise as they landed, leaving it to echo throughout the building. It made Mykie cringe every time. Did _nobody_ know what stealth was?

Dom, as muscled and large as he was, was nowhere near as loud as those two. At least someone was smart.

Grabbing onto the bars on the inside, Mykie lowered herself onto the car gently, sliding down off of the hood and onto the concrete floor.

Her shoes never made a sound.

All four of them had flashlights, making the job a lot easier. Mykie walked up to the first car she saw, noticing the hood was up. Glancing inside, she frowned in confusion. "There's no engine." She announced, glancing back at the men. Brian had gone off further into the back, looking at something. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the car, leaning over and taking a deeper look inside.

"What are they planning on racing on? Hopes and dreams?" Dom chuckled, grabbing the back of Mykie's shirt as she slipped and started to fall inside, arms flailing a little. She threw him a thankful look over her shoulder before diving in even further.

"Are the other cars like this?" She questioned, pushing herself back up. Dom let go of her shirt and she fixed it, smoothing a hand over the stretched out fabric.

Vince glanced at her before answering Dom's question. "I don't know, but they're sneaky as shit. And they've got enough money to buy anything."

Mykie walked to examine the rest of the garage, stopping when she heard something. Multiple engines, and they were getting closer. At the same time, Dom's phone started ringing. "What?" He questioned immediately.

Jesse leaned down in his seat, hiding from view, as multiple bikes pulled into the lot. "We got a wolf pack. It's Johnny Tran, and he's coming your way really fast." He was so close to freaking out, his hands were shaking and he wanted nothing more than to pull out a smoke at that moment.

Dom snapped the phone shut. "All right, we got company. Spilner!" They ran behind the cars, kneeling down. Dom and Vince behind one, the twins behind another.

As soon as they made it, the garage doors started opening up and the lights automatically came on. Headlights were shining brightly into the garage as Tran and his crew pulled up. They got off of their bikes, a few men stepping out of the two cars that had pulled up alongside them. There was a man with them. Who he was, they didn't know.

She reached into her boot and pulled out her pocket knife, flicking it open. Better to have it out now instead of later when she might need it. The boy's pulled their own guns out, turning the safety off.

Lance held a gun to the man's head, ordering him to move. Tran stopped in front of the car without an engine, sneering. "Let me ask you a question, Ted. Do you see anything wrong here?"

Ted clenched his jaw, giving the man a defiant, "No." Tran stepped forward and grabbed the back of his head, forcefully shoving him down and over the car.

"We got no engines, do we?!" He shouted, shoving his head even more. "Do we?!" Ted shouted no, trying to get out of his hold. Tran let him go and he stepped back. "A couple of Nissan SR20 motors will pull a premium, one week before Race Wars, huh?"

Ted was doing his best to ignore the gun only inches from the side of his head. "Probably. Yeah."

Tran smirked and started to slip off his leather jacket. "You're a smart fence, Ted. Maybe too smart. What are you feeling, Lance? A fifty-weight?"

Lance answered casually, "A forty-weight sounds nice."

Tran grabbed Ted and shoved him onto the ground, holding him down with his knee digging into his back. Lance handed him the oil pump. Tran shoved it into Ted's mouth, Lance pumping it and forcing the oil into his mouth, all over his face, down his throat. "Where are they, Ted?"

Mykie stared at the scene, eyes wide in horror and disgust. She knew that the Tran family was bad from what the gang has told her, but to go this far? She wasn't surprised, really. It didn't look like this was Tran's first time torturing someone like this either; there was no hesitation, no remorse about what they were doing.

Her grip on the knife tightened to the point that her hand was shaking. She grit her teeth, body tense as she held back from jumping out of her hiding spot and helping the man.

A sweaty hand reached up and gripped the back of her neck, calming her down and reassuring her without using words. She relaxed, as best as she could in their situation, against Brian.

Dom glanced at the pair, watching the way they reacted to each other. From what he'd seen, they were each other's anchors, their lifelines. They were so in sync with each other, it almost made him envy the relationship they had. Almost. Even he and Mia weren't that in tune with each other. Then again, they weren't twins like these two.

Tran and his crew left to go get their engines, dragging Ted with them. It gave the group of four the perfect chance to leave.

Mykie was the first to bolt, launching herself onto the hood of the car and grabbing the bar. She pulled herself up and onto the roof, taking a few steps before she had to stop, hand pressed against her side as she struggled to take a deep breath.

It wasn't that she was scared of them. Violence, gore, creepy shit, it was all something she could handle. That didn't make it any easier to watch a man get tortured.

"You good?" Brian asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She nodded, flinching when a particularly deep breath made more pain flare up. "What's wrong?" Before she could answer or deny anything, he pulled her hand away from her side and saw it come off bloody.

Assuming the worst, he immediately rounded on Vince. "Did you shoot my fucking sister?!" He yelled, grabbing a fistful of the man's shirt. He growled and shoved Brian off, looking behind him to see the blonde bent over, trying to stop the bleeding.

"I didn't do shit besides knock her out, Buster."

Dom approached her, causing her to look up and tense. He stopped, hands held up. "I just want to take a look," he told her, wanting to know if he should take her to the hospital or Mia. She huffed and squeezed her eyes shut, nodding her head.

Brian would have found out eventually.

She heard Dom's sharp intake of breath first, then Brian. "Oh my god, Mykie." The blonde surged forward, pulling the shirt up more to take a better look. There was a bandage that had bled through wrapped around her, so he carefully removed it. There were two holes on the side of her abdomen, about two inches apart. "Jesus. It looks like you were shot! When the hell this happen?!"

"Why do you think I left England, dude?" She sighed, shoving his hand away and yanking her shirt back down. It had only been two weeks since it happened, but getting hit and spying on Hector and Tran's garages had made it split again. "It's fine, I can patch it up when we get back to the apartment."

"You need to go to a hospital, Mykie." Dom told her, and she shook her head. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at her. "Fine, at least let Mia patch you up."

She arched a brow at the man, "Mia knows how to deal with gunshot wounds?"

The young woman was going into school to be a nurse anyways, but when Dom and the crew started hijacking the trucks, that kick started her into studying in case anything ever happened.

"Yeah, she could patch that up for you." He nodded, and she stared up at him for a good minute, eyes cold, before giving him a nod so small he would have missed it if he blinked.

Brian sighed, bringing a hand up to rub tiredly at his eyes. His sister was going to cause his grey hairs long before he needed them.


	4. Pressure's Weighing Like An Anchor

Mia hadn't asked what happened, and Mykie hadn't given her any answers. She stared at the wall while the girl cleaned the wound and bandaged it again, hand gripped tight enough around her tumbler of scotch that she was almost afraid she'd crack it.

Brian sat in one of the chairs across from her, eyes revealing nothing while he stared at her. His elbow was on the armrest, hand covering the bottom half of his face so that he wouldn't start yelling and lecturing. He had noticed that something was different, something hard in her eyes that she didn't have before, but didn't think it was anything serious enough that she had to flee Europe with a gunshot wound in her side.

"Stop fucking looking at me like that, Bri." She finally snapped, tired of feeling his gaze burning into her face. "I already told you. I got twisted with some shit people in England, and when I tried to leave, we fought. End of story."

"No, not end of story!" He retorted, throwing his hands up. "Who are these assholes? You got _shot_ , Mykie!"

She tensed up, glaring at him. "You really want to take this conversation that direction, Brian? Getting shot at? You want to, 'cause I have a whole bucket of problems I have with _you_ -"

"Cut it out, both of you." Dom snapped, stopping the two before they could say something they regret. He was curious to know what she was talking about, but it wasn't his business.

They both glared at him for a second before turning it back to each other.

Mia sighed and sat up straight, taking her gloves off. "There, you're good to go." Already she was worrying about the blonde, and she had known her, what, a few weeks? Dom could drag people in easily, but it seemed that the twins had their own little pull.

"I feel like I should tip you or something." Mykie grumbled, looking down at herself. The stitches were neater than the quick job she had her only ally in England give her, that was for sure. Neither of them had known how to properly do it, which meant it hurt like hell for Mykie when they did it. It was by miracle alone that she hadn't gotten it infected.

"Just make sure you don't die from an infection and we'll be good to go." Mia gave her a fond look, making the blonde give her a small smile in return.

Brian stood up, walking over to his sister and grabbing her by the arm, pulling her up. She let him, knowing that she deserved his anger. They were close, they usually told eachother everything. This was a big something that she didn't tell him.

"Thanks, Mia. We'll be going now."

Mykie waved to the group, giving Jesse a reassuring smile when she saw him frowning at her. "Bye, I might be dead tomorrow. If I don't show up, it was Brian-" she was cut off by her own yelp, Brian yanking on her arm to get her moving.

She expected yelling, a fight, maybe some tears when they got home. Instead, Brian left her in the living room, going to his own room and shutting the door quietly behind him.

Somehow, his silent anger and disappointment was worse.

Mykie went to her room, falling into bed. She didn't even change, too upset to bother with the routine.

By the time she woke up, Brian was gone, but that was expected. She let herself lay in bed for a few more minutes, staring up at the ceiling. "I fucked up," she said to herself, running a hand down her face. "Shit."

She changed into some new pants and a tank top, throwing her hair up into a tight bun. If he didn't want to talk to her, she wouldn't talk to him. Let him work out his anger and then talk to him.

She needed to go to work, give herself something to distract herself with.

It had been a few days since she had driven her Camaro, since she had been carpooling with Brian. She almost forgot where her keys were, but found them in a pair of dirty jeans she had yet to wash.

"Sorry I haven't loved you in a couple days," she cooed, running her hand over the top of the car before getting in. It started with a loud rumble, and she wondered for a moment how she ever gave up driving so easily to carpool in Harry's truck.

Oh, right. She's way too lazy to drive every day.

Mykie twisted the wheel to take a turn, glancing back in the rearview mirror when a motorcycle pulled up behind her. Her heartbeat picked up as her mind automatically assuming it was Tran, or someone from his crew.

Had he found out that she was at the garage the night before? Were they coming to take her out or maybe even kidnap her?

She looked at the road signs around and let out a sigh of relief. She was close to Racer's Edge, somewhere that Tran couldn't go since he had an agreement with Dom.

Pulling into the parking lot, Mykie felt her heart rate start to slow down once the biker kept driving on. She leaned forward, resting her forehead on the steering wheel, gripping it tightly. She had panicked for nothing.

Gritting her teeth, Mykie leaned back and punched the steering wheel in anger.

"You're late." Harry told her as soon as she walked inside, pulling on her work shirt over the tank top.

Mykie had to bite her tongue to hold back a sarcastic comment. The guy was nice enough to give her a job, she couldn't go mouthing off to him. "Sorry 'bout that, Harry. I overslept." She passed him and grabbed her CD player and headphones from her locker, switching the CD inside out for a new one. She shoved the player in her back pocket and got to work.

Waking up with only a few hours of sleep, and almost freaking out over nothing, she was a little grumpy.

She ignored Brian completely as she walked into the garage, grabbing what she needed to work on the car that some rich kid had brought in.

She'd seen it inside the garage enough times in the few weeks that she's been working for Harry, that she had started to hate the guy that owned it. He knew nothing about the car, obviously, and kept tearing it up. She was half-tempted to buy it from him, but she didn't have that kind of money to spend.

Finishing the car took all morning, and she was late for her lunch break. Already being grumpy, and now being hungry, she was in no mood to be around people.

"Harry, I'm taking off for the day." She told him, pulling off her work shirt. Her side was aching, and there was little she wouldn't do for a couple of painkillers.

Harry let her go, and she took off the second she was able.

She drove down the coast, just because she could. It had been too long she had driven around with nowhere to go in mind, and the trip was long overdue. She leaned her head on her hand, just watching the scenery around her go by as she drove the limit for once.

The radio was silent, letting her stew in her own thoughts.

Mykie could understand easily why Brian was upset with her. She had lied, she had kept it a secret, and she had been doing dangerous shit. But she felt the same way when Brian went to do the exact same thing, on his job as a cop.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled it out. Jesse was calling her, which was a surprise. "What's up, Jay?" She answered, slowing down once she hit a red light.

"Where you at, girl?" He questioned. "Brian showed up at the garage, but you weren't with him." She could practically see the pout on his face.

Mykie pulled off to the side of the road, letting herself relax back into the seat. She shut her eyes, head tilted back. "Sorry, I went out for a drive. Wasn't feelin' too great."

"Oh, are you okay? You don't gotta come to the garage if you're not doing good." Jesse tried to reassure her, and she smiled. Just talking to him had lifted her spirits some.

"Nah, I'm better now. I'll head down to the garage, but I might take a bit. I have no idea how far I am from DT's, truthfully." She glanced around, looking for a road sign or something similar. None of them were ones she recognized, so she just decided that the best way to go is the same way she came.

When Mykie got to the garage, she pulled up to see the crew and Brian working on the Supra. Dom was lowering himself into the empty space where the engine was supposed to go, with Brian on the side watching. Letty, Leon, and Jesse were standing around the engine.

"Got a TR7 here, with a ball-bearing upgrade. What it's going to do is, it's going to spool up really quick." Jesse explained, gesturing and talking with his hands. Hearing the door to Mykie's car shut, he turned and smiled at the sight of her. "Look who finally made it," he teased.

"I got this set up for 24 psi." Letty added, glancing up when the blonde entered. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw how they practically lit up when they saw each other.

Mykie rolled her eyes and walked up to the three, pulling Jesse into a side hug. "Yeah, yeah. I was busy, alright?"

Brian looked over at his sister and saw that she looked considerably happier than when she was at Harry's. All because of Jesse. He sighed and turned back to his conversation with Dom.

"So, uh, Mykie..." Jesse pulled her aside, looking down and fidgeting with his hands. She arched a brow at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you busy tonight?"

"Not that I know of. Why?" She had an idea, but waited on him to say it.

Jesse took a deep breath, looking up at her. "Do you want to go out on a date tonight? There's this new restaurant that opened, and I thought it would be a good idea to go check it out, but if you don't want to-"

She gave him a crooked smile, reaching and grabbing his hand so he would stop rambling. "Dude, I'll totally go out with you tonight."

"Really? Great," Jesse grinned, pulling her into a tight hug. "Wear something nice, okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, sure..."

Dom called over to her, Brian standing up next to him, "Spilner, I got something to show you."

Mykie glanced at Jesse before nodding and walking over. The man led her and her twin to his car and they got in, Mykie being forced into the backseat.

They drove back to the Toretto house and got out. Dom unlocked the door to the garage, opening it up. Ever since coming to the house, she had been curious as to what was inside. And now, they were finally able to see.

Inside was a gorgeous black 1970 Dodge Charger. Mykie could have died and gone to heaven after seeing it. She stepped closer into the garage, circling it slowly.

"Wow," Brian commented, staring at the car in just as much awe as his sister.

"Me and my dad built her," Dom explained. He glanced up as Mykie made her way back to the front of the garage, stopping next to the man. "Nine hundred horses of Detroit muscle. It's a beast. You know what she ran in Palmdale?"

Mykie shook her head, giving all of her attention to the man. "No, what?"

"Nine seconds flat." Dom answered, pride evident in his voice. "My dad was driving. So much torque, the chassis twisted coming off the line. Barely kept her on the track."

"So what's your best time?" Brian asked.

Dom shook his head. "I've never driven her."

Brian asked the question that immediately sprung to her mind. "Why not?"

The bald man looked away, swallowing. Mykie frowned and put a hand on his arm, looking up at him. Dom looked down at her and saw that there was no judgment in her eyes, just kindness.

"Scares the shit out of me," he admitted, looking down at the Charger. He suddenly turned and pointed to a picture of a man on the bulletin board behind them. "That's my dad," there's so much fucking pride in his voice that it makes the two ache for what they could have had. "He was coming up in the pro stock-car circuit. Last race of the season."

He started walking around the car, pausing at the rear, "A guy named Kenny Linder came up from inside, in the final turn. He clipped his bumper and put him into the wall at 120. I watched my dad burn to death. I remembered hearing him scream. But the people that were there said he had died before the tanks blew. They said it was me who was screaming," he struggled to get out, looking back at the twins.

Mykie let out a shaky breath, looking down at the ground. Her mother came to mind, and her death. She had been screaming at the doctors to save her when her mom started flat lining, and had to have Brian drag her out kicking. Brian grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Dom continued, starting to walk around the car again. "I saw Linder about a week later. I had a wrench, and I hit him. And I didn't intend to keep hitting him, but when I finished, I couldn't lift my arm." Brian sat down heavily in the seat at the desk, while Mykie leaned against it. "He's a janitor at a high school now. He has to take the bus to work every day. And they banned me from the tracks for life... I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. Nothing else matters. Not the mortgage, not the store. Not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less… I'm free."

They talked for a few more minutes before getting back into Dom's car. He started to drive back to the garage, but Mykie stopped him. "Actually, can you drop me off at our apartment? I need to start getting ready for my date tonight."

"Be careful," Brian told her, finally saying something to her. She looked at him, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror, and nodded.

"Could say the same to you," she commented, having heard from Jesse that her brother was taking Mia out on a date. He looked away, and she sighed. That wasn't even meant to be a dig at him being under cover, but she guessed he took it that way.

* * *

 **This is shorter than I'd like but I felt better splitting this and the next chapter up into two than one long one.**

 **Tell me what you think! Reviews help keep me motivated(:**


	5. I'm Still Turning Out

"What the hell," Mykie complained, digging around in her bag. She could have sworn she had at least a few dresses packed, bought while she was in London.

Everything in the bag was tossed out, and she managed to find some under everything else. "Aha!"

The longest part of getting ready for the date was finding the right outfit, which could easily be why she never went on many to begin with. Her hair was tamed and had half a can of hairspray in it to keep flyaways down. She hadn't bothered with makeup, since she hated wearing it.

Mykie rarely ever wore dresses, but she had at least four of them in her bag. She picked out a simple black sundress, grabbing the heels she had shoved in the back of her closet that she wore once and then forgot about. She was way more of a boot or sneaker kind of girl, but Jesse said to look nice.

Brian had dropped by to get ready for his date with Mia, and left just as quick. She was jealous of how easy it was for him to get ready. Nice shirt, pants that weren't dirty, and some cologne. Maybe spent fifteen minutes getting ready.

She tried the same four dresses for almost an hour before deciding.

Mykie ran her hands down her sides, smoothing out the dress, and let out a gasp when her thumb got caught. "It has pockets!" She slid her hands inside, turning as she looked at herself in front of the mirror.

Sitting down on the couch, Mykie waited for the time to come. Her knee was bouncing from the nervousness settled deep in her gut. She clutched her wallet and phone in her hands, staring at the clock on the wall and watching the hand tick on and on.

When was the last time she'd been on a proper date? When was the last time she even bothered getting into a relationship?

The last time someone had even bothered to take her out on a real, honest to god date was senior year of highschool. Everything since then had been nothing more than a casual hookup or hanging out with their friends.

Maybe it was because romance was never something she enjoyed. Going out on dates was fun, sure, and she liked to hang out. Things like chocolate and anniversaries and roses were something she could easily live without.

Okay, maybe the chocolate would be nice, but she hated having to keep up with anything other than holidays and birthdays.

Mykie watched the minutes fly by as time went on. Soon, it got to be a quarter past the time that Jesse was supposed to pick her up. Frowning to herself, she tried calling his phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Maybe it was dead, or he was showering. She tried not to think about it too much.

When it got to be just over an hour passed the time that their date was supposed to happen, she got annoyed. He was the one to ask her to go, and he was nowhere to be found. She grabbed her keys and stomped out of the apartment, locking it behind her.

Pulling up to the house, she parked on the curb. Jesse's car was still in the driveway, but she didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

From where she was, Mykie could see the garage light on and the door open. Dom was inside, working on the Charger. Seeing the sight made her think back to what he'd told her earlier, and she made a split-second decision. She could trust Dom, easily.

Hearing footsteps approach the garage, Dom looked up and was surprised to see the blonde walking up. He looked her over, realizing that this was the first time he saw her dressed even remotely fancy. Usually, it was all jeans and tank tops. "What are you doing here, Spilner? Don't you have a date with Jesse?"

She shrugged, stopping at the edge of the garage. "He never showed. But that's not why I'm bothering you. Earlier, you were kind enough to tell Brian and I what had happened to your father." She paused, moving to sit on the front bumper of the Charger. "I think it's only fair I tell you what happened to our mom. At least, from my point of view."

"You don't have to do that, Mykie." He told her, voice gruff. Putting down the wrench in his hand, he joined her at the front of the car, leaning against it. Mykie stared straight ahead, out of the garage.

She took a deep breath before starting to talk, hands clasped tightly together. "Our mom died of cancer right before we turned sixteen and just after we'd gotten out of juvie, for the first time, at least. It had gotten to the point of spreading to her liver and brain. The last few days were the hardest days I've ever experienced." Mykie blinked back tears, bouncing her leg anxiously. She looked up at Dom, voice cracking, "You know what her last words to us were? ' _Do good, you two_.' And god, if I haven't felt like I've failed her these last couple years." She laughed, bitter and dry. "I just want to make her proud, and I don't think she would be if she saw me today."

Dom hesitated for a second before wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling the small blonde into his side. "You seem liked you turned out fine, though. I'm sure no matter what she'd be proud of someone as independent and kind as you."

Mykie leaned into him, closing her eyes. She hadn't turned out fine, but she was trying. "Thanks, Dom."

"So what about you and Jesse?" He questioned and she pulled away.

Mykie sighed and stood up, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know, man. I'm not going to automatically assume he stood me up, he doesn't seem like the kind to do that."

"He did look pretty worn out after coming home from the garage," Dom mentioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mykie didn't say anything, fidgeting with the sleeves of her dress.

"Jesse likes you too much to stand you up, Mykie."

She sighed, visibly deflating, "I could tell as much. I guess I'll head inside, see what he's doing. Thanks for listening, Dom." She gave him a crooked smile before going inside.

Letty was laying on the floor, playing a racing game on the PlayStation. Leon was sitting in the recliner behind him, watching her. He looked up when Mykie entered, raising his beer in greeting.

"What's up, lil' Mykes?" He smirked, laughing when she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"First 'Curls', now 'lil' Mykes'? Y'all suck at nicknames." She retorted, crouching down next to Letty. "You know where Jesse is, baby doll?" She questioned, watching her play.

"Upstairs. He crashed as soon as we got here." The Latina answered, not looking away from her game. The nickname didn't bother her, Mykie had called everyone 'baby doll' at least once by now. "Third door on the right."

Mykie kissed her cheek and stood up, "Thanks." She nodded to Leon and jogged upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. She knocked on the door first, waiting for an answer. When she got none, so she opened the door and peeked inside.

Laying on the bed, still on top of the covers, was a sleeping Jesse. His phone was clutched in his hand, and his beanie was off of his head. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but at least had on a nice pair of pants.

Mykie admired the view for a moment, stepping in and closing the door behind her. She walked up to the bed and smirked, climbing on top of it. She braced her hands on either side of the man's head, leaning in and pressing her lips to his.

Jesse groaned, somewhat waking up. He reached around, cupping the back of her head as he returned the kiss. Pulling back for air, he opened his eyes and smiled at Mykie. "If that's how I could always wake up, I'd definitely start liking waking up more." He played with the pieces of hair that had fallen over her shoulder, before noticing something. "Are you in a dress?"

"Mhm," she leaned in for another kiss, happy to just lay there instead of going out, "I managed to find one good enough for our date."

Jesse gasped and suddenly sat up, and they would both be sporting bumps on the forehead if it wasn't for her quick reflexes. "Shit! What time is it? I'm so, so sorry, Mykie. I must've passed out after getting back from the garage."

She cut him off with another kiss, shifting so she was straddling his waist. "It's fine, Jay. We can still go somewhere, it's not too late."

"I kinda like where we are right now, though." He said cheekily, leaning in to mouth at her neck. Her eyes fluttered and she leaned her head to the side, giving him more access.

"I do too, but I'm also hungry." She breathed, reaching up to grip his shoulders. "Chili's is still open."

Jesse let out a groan, but pulled away. Mykie rolled off of him, laying on her back. She watched him get up and look for a clean shirt. He found one, a plaid button up, and slipped it on. He picked up his pack of cigarettes and his lighter, slipping them into his pocket. "You ready?"

Mykie hummed and folded her arms behind her head. "I dunno, man. I think I could use one more kiss before we leave." He grinned and leaned over her, giving her a chaste kiss. "That'll do, I guess." She sighed in mock disappointment and sat up, smiling at him.

"C'mon." Jesse whined, drawing out the vowel, and grabbed her hands to pull her off of the bed. She laughed and let him, wrapping an arm around his waist. They rushed down the stairs together, ignoring the two in the living room, and out of the door.

Jesse got in his car and she followed, waving at Dom in the garage. He noticed the two running to the car, and smirked, shaking his head. Ah, young love.

Twenty minutes later, and they were at a Chili's in the nicer part of town. There was a song on the speakers playing, something that had piano and was slow and just _sappy_.

Her nose crinkled at it, but at least it had a nice beat. Slow love songs were never her style. She had a wide range of music tastes, but that wasn't one of them. She liked chaotic and loud and something with a good beat.

When a waitress came by the order their drinks, Jesse got a Corona while Mykie ordered a martini. The two flipped through the menu before choosing their food. They waited in silence for their drinks, just enjoying the music.

Mykie smiled at the waitress when she came back with their drinks, thanking her. She took a sip, eyeing Jesse. "So, how'd you meet the gang?" She asked, setting the drink down.

Jesse smiled, setting the beer down. "For a while, it was just Leon and I. We'd work, doing odd jobs when we were able. It was a little tough, finding a job since I'd dropped out of school. But then we hear about this guy, Dominic Toretto, and go to check him out at one of the races." He explained, messing with the top of the bottle. "He offered us a job at the garage and a room in the house, and we never really left."

"What about everyone else?" She leaned in, arms folded on the table and drink forgotten.

"Well, Vince grew up with Dom-"

Mykie cut in, "I wouldn't use the term 'grow up' when it comes to Vince, honestly."

He grinned, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyways, he's been his friend for years now. And Letty, she lived just down the street from Mia and Dom. She's always been into cars, so of course she was into Dom."

Mykie laughed quietly, muffling it with her hand so she didn't gain any unwanted attention. The only eyes she wanted on her were Jesse's. "It's just how Dom is, right? Like gravity, he's always pulling everyone in." She said, reminding herself and Jesse of the first night they met.

"He's even pulled you in." Jesse pointed out, picking his beer up. Mykie opened her mouth, to deny it, but realized he was right. Dom had managed to pull her into his orbit, into the family.

She blinked, leaning back in her chair. "Yeah, I guess he has."

Before they could continue on with the conversation, their food arrived. Mykie dug in, throwing manners aside and stuffing her face with the hamburger. Jesse watched for a few seconds, amused, before digging into his own meal.

A few minutes later, Jesse spoke up. "What about you? You mentioned Europe before, what'd you go there for?"

Mykie grabbed her napkin and wiped her mouth off. "I was taking a couple years off between high school and college. Wanted to explore, and all that cliche bullshit, y'know? Didn't think I'd end up in the trouble I did, but it was worth it."

"College, huh? What would you want to study?" He questioned, leaning against his hand.

"I'm not sure if that's still in the plan," she shrugged, "but I would have gone for something in cars, maybe, or tech. I thought about visual arts, since I'm into graffiti, but decided not to."

"You do graffiti? That's awesome!" Jesse grinned, leaning in and accidentally knocking his beer over. It would have spilled all over the table, but Mykie caught it quickly before it could. "What've you done to be able to do- all of that?" He gestured to her and the hand still around his beer.

Mykie pushed the beer back to him. "Gymnastics and self defense classes. I got tired of being pushed around by shitty ex-boyfriends and started taking classes."

Jesse frowned, "Shitty ex-boyfriends?"

She looked down, focusing on her food. "I'd rather not talk about that, honestly."

Having seen it before, he knew she would shut him out if he tried pushing. "Alright, I respect that."

Mykie gave him a small smile, "Thanks. You could so get into MIT if you tried, y'know. I'm sure you could find some meds that'll help out with your ADD," she shrugged, "or shit, maybe even try weed. You're fuckin' genius when it comes to cars, Jay."

Jessy shook his head, but smiled at her. She wasn't the first one to tell him that, but he had actually already looked into it, not that any of the crew knew. "It's too expensive, even with the money I make from races and DT's."

"Yeah, I get that," she nodded. "Not even with the help of scholarships or anything?"

He just shrugged.

The waitress came left the bill with them, and Jesse took in both of their empty plates. "You ready to go?" She nodded and they stood up, walking to the front. Jesse paid, ignoring Mykie's insistence on paying half of it, and they left. "Where to now?"

Mykie stretched out in her seat, fighting back a yawn. "There's this place I want to show you. Here, let me drive." He nodded and Mykie unbuckled, climbing over to sit in his lap. Carefully, Jesse got out from under her and moved to the passenger seat.

She drove until they got to the beach. She passed the public beach, instead following a dirt road and going down it. They were surrounded by trees, nothing but the road ahead of them. It was silent in the car, the radio having been turned off. At the end of the road, there was a large patch of dirt big enough for a few cars to park. It was an extremely secluded part of the beach, a small patch of sand leading into the ocean.

They got out and Mykie locked the doors behind her, tossing the keys to Jesse. They walked and sat down on the beach, leaning into each other.

"How'd you find this?" Jesse questioned, grabbing her hand and slipping his fingers through her's.

"I found it one day while walking around. I think it's private property, since nobody ever comes around. First day I found it, this old lady came out of the house over there," she pointed to the right, to a house that Jesse only just noticed, "waving a gun around and shouting for me to leave. But instead, I walked up and introduced myself. We had tea and talked, and now she lets me come here whenever I want."

Jesse turned his head, kissing the exposed skin on her shoulder. "That's cool." She smiled and put her hand on his jaw, making him turn so she could kiss him.

Things heated up quickly, Jesse moving to pin her down onto the sand. Mykie let him, wrapping her legs around his waist. He kissed her, hands running up and down her sides. He tugged at the bottom of her dress, asking if it was alright. She nodded into the kiss and pulled away long enough for him to pull the dress off. He admired the sight of her shirtless, leaning down to mouth at the skin on her chest and collar bones.

Mykie tangled her fingers in his hair, tugging lightly. Her eyes fluttered once Jesse started to kiss her neck, arching into it with a quiet curse.

* * *

 **Two updates in one day whaaa? It's because this and CH4 are short. Tell me what you think(:**


	6. You Gotta Face Up

**This is short af and definitely a filler chapter. Whoops. I promise that the next chapter is at least twice as long lol. Anyways, enjoy and be sure to tell me whether or not you liked it!**

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They hadn't gotten any further than kissing and feeling each other up. She already felt like she had sand in places it didn't need to be, and being naked would have only made it worse.

He had started to pull her underwear off, when she told him that they had gotten far enough, and he left it at that. They went back to kissing, their movements getting slower and more chaste as the day started to wear down on them.

When they fell asleep, it was with Mykie curled into him, his arms wrapped around her. She had slipper her dress back on at some point and was trying to get as much warmth from him as she could, even though it was already humid outside, even at night.

In the middle of the night, Jesse woke up to his phone buzzing in his pocket. He slowly let go of Mykie and got up, pulling it out. It was Dom. They were making another hit on the truckers tonight, and he needed to be there. He felt guilty, leaving her there, but he couldn't just not show up to it. Dom would have his head. Hopefully, he would make it back in time, before she woke up.

And he did. When she woke up the next morning, it was when Jesse was picking her up to carry her back to the car. She flailed for a moment, eyes snapping open as she momentarily forgot where she was, but stopped when she noticed the other blonde.

"Hey there," He grinned, walking them back to the car. She smiled, leaning in to give him a morning kiss.

"Hi. How long have you been awake?" She questioned, leaning back in the seat when he put her down.

Jesse got into the driver's seat and started driving down the dirt road. "Only a few minutes. Did you… Did you have a nice time last night?" He asked, nervous.

"I had an amazing time." She leaned in, surprising him a little with another kiss. Within the first week they'd known each other, he'd gotten used to how touchy-feely she was. By now, it was normal. Kisses were something else, though, but he wasn't complaining.

Mykie pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked to see if anyone had called. Brian had, and he left a voicemail. She turned the volume on the phone down so that it was low enough that Jesse couldn't hear; just a precaution.

" _Hey, I won't be home today. Tanner wants me to come in, help take down Tran. Cover for me with Dom, yeah? I'll explain everything when I get home._ " She sighed and snapped the phone shut. She really wished she knew what her brother was doing, but he refused to tell her.

Jesse stopped by the apartment, letting Mykie take a shower and change clothes. She pulled him into the shower with her, and it was a while before they got any actual cleaning done.

The smell of sand and ocean clung to them, even after they were done, but she didn't mind it.

She gave him a pair of Brian's cargo pants to wear, since their clothes from the night before still had sand clinging to them. She changed into her own pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt, finding an oversized one that she stole from Roman a while back and passed it to Jesse.

They left and went to Dom's, parking on the street and got out. Jesse was out first, running around the car to open up Mykie's door for her. She smiled, thanking him with a kiss on the cheek. They walked, hand in hand, inside.

Leon whistled from his spot at the table, catching the multiple hickies on Mykie's neck and collarbone. She rolled her eyes, hitting the back of his head as they passed.

"Y'all had a little bit of fun, huh?" He teased, voice still gruff with sleep. Mia looked over from cooking breakfast, smirking at Mykie.

Mykie pointed a finger at him, letting Jesse pull her down into his lap once he sat down. "Yes, it was fun. But nobody's pants came off, so don't even start." At least, not while they were still on the date. The man didn't need to know that, though.

Vince raised an eyebrow, having ignored the blonde up until then. "Really? Didn't take you for the virtuous kind," he sneered.

Mia gasped, turning around to glare at him. Letty glared as well, "What the hell, Vince?"

Mykie put a hand up to stop them from going any further, "Nah, it's cool. Trust me, I've heard worse shit. Some prick with an ego big enough to compensate for lil' Vince isn't about to hurt my feelings."

"Fuck you." Vince snapped and stomped off.

Mykie wiggled her fingers at him, calling back a cheerful, "Toodles, dickface!"

Letty snorted, raising her hand for a high-five. Mykie grinned, smacking her hand. "That was awesome, girl."

The next morning, after they'd finished the Supra the day before, they were all crowded around it. All of their hard work had paid off and it was a beauty.

Brian got in the driver's side, Dom getting into the passenger. Mykie had begged to go, so she was sitting between Dom's legs. His arm was wrapped around her waist, since they were forgoing seatbelts.

Jesse walked over to her side of the car, giving her a chaste kiss. "You did a nice job on the paint, baby."

"Thanks, doll face." She grinned, patting him on the cheek.

"You did the paint?" Brian questioned. He didn't know, since she'd done it while he was out arresting Tran and his crew.

Mykie nodded, leaning back against Dom so she could be more comfortable. "Yep. I did the paint, but Mia did the decal."

Letty grinned, leaning against the car. Seeing Mykie so close to Dom didn't bother her, since she knew the blonde only had eyes for Jesse. "You ready for this?"

Brian turned the engine over, and the three in the car relished in how it practically purred underneath them. Jesse rubbed the hood, leaning over it with a mad grin. He pulled away as Brian started driving, tearing out of the garage.

They drove for a few miles, Mykie having to fix her hair into a bun after Dom complained of all the hair in his face from the wind. "I love this car," She sighed, grinning at Brian.

A red light was quickly approaching, a Ferrari in the lane next to them. Brian leaned over the wheel, calling out to the driver. "Nice car. What's the retail on one of those?"

The man sneered at the trio, the woman in the seat next to him doing the same. "More than you can afford, pal. Ferrari." He revved his engine, Brian doing the same after.

The trio stared at him in silence for a moment. Dom turned to Brian, his arm tightening around Mykie's waist. "Smoke him."

Brian gave a small nod and turned his attention back to the road.

The light turned green and they were off. The Supra stayed just a hair ahead of the Ferrari. The lanes ahead of them were occupied, so Brian swerved onto the other side of the road, missing a sedan by inches. Mr. Ferrari went the other way, onto the pull-off lane. Brian got back onto the right side of the road easily, getting side-by-side with the Ferrari again before getting ahead of it quickly.

Brian, as Dom had ordered, completely smoked the douchebag. Mykie cheered, throwing her arms up. "Hell yeah, baby!" She shouted, laughing along with the two men.

They continued driving until Dom told them to pull off at a bar and grill called Neptune's Net. They parked in one of the few spots available and got out.

A waitress sat them at a table for four, Mykie choosing to sit with her brother. She ordered a plate of shrimp for them to share, with extra cocktail sauce. She picked at it, sipping at her lemonade.

Her brother had gone quiet, giving the surrounding air a tense atmosphere. She shifted in her seat, feeling awkward.

Dom finally spoke up, "So, what's wrong, Brian?"

"Nothing, man, I'm fine." He denied, throwing a piece of shrimp into his mouth. Mykie looked at Dom, catching his eye. She shrugged, grabbing a piece for herself.

He pulled off his sunglasses, folding them up and setting them onto the table. "Come on. Obviously something's off."

The blonde refused to meet Dom's eyes. "Look, I have my good days and bad days just like anybody else." Mykie frowned at her twin, wondering what was wrong. While that was true, this came out of nowhere.

"Brian, don't lose that cool of yours. That's your meal ticket." Dom said, looking out at the room they were in before looking back at him.

He gestured to the plate of shrimp, "My meal ticket? I can't pay for my own shrimp?"

"Bri, don't be a dick right now." She sighed, massaging her forehead. He glanced at her, but otherwise ignored her.

"I got the shrimp." Dom told him, turning the tray around so the shrimp was on his side of the table.

"No, that's one thing about me you don't understand. I don't take handouts. I earn my way, every step." He snapped, angrily picking up a piece of shrimp and dipping it into the sauce. Mykie watched him, rolling her eyes. "I need something extra on the side, like you."

Dom's eyes narrowed, and he leaned in close. "What do you mean, like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what it means."

Dom held his hands up, looking confused and even a little agitated with the blonde. "What does that mean, like me?"

"Don't start some shit." Mykie warned, not looking up from grabbing another piece of shrimp.

He glanced at her, eyes icy. Turning back to Dom, he said, "Don't try- I'm not stupid, alright? I know that there's no way you paid for all that shit you got under the hood-" Dom made a face, gesturing for him to lower his voice. He did. "There's no way you paid for what's under the hood of those cars, by doing tune-ups and selling groceries. Whatever it is you're in on, I want in on it, too."

Dom stared at him, hard, for a moment before looking at Mykie for what she had to say. She put her hands up, leaning back in her seat. "I don't know what the hell he's talking about, man. But," she leaned in, lowering her voice, "if you got a little action goin' on, I could get in on it. Been awhile since I've had a proper adrenaline rush, that didn't come from racing."

Dom wordlessly took out a piece of folded paper and slid it across the table. Mykie snapped forward and grabbed it before Brian could, sticking her tongue out at him. "What's this?"

"Just read it."

She unfolded the paper, raising an eyebrow. Directions. "What's this for?"

Dom smirked, not replying as he popped another piece of shrimp into his mouth. "Directions. To Race Wars. We'll see how you two do, then we'll talk."

Mykie passed it to Brian, "You need it more than I do. I'm riding with Jesse."

On their way out of the restaurant, Mykie grabbed her brother's arm and stopped him from going to the Supra. "Give me a second," she told Dom, before pulling Brian around to the side of the building.

Brian let her pull him around, wondering what his twin wanted.

"Look, Bri, I should have told you, I know. Please stop ignoring me. I just didn't want you to worry, you had enough shit to worry about with your job," she told him, refusing to break eye contact with him. "I'm sorry for not telling you, Bri, I swear."

He stared down at her, not saying anything. Her eyes started to get watery and he finally sighed, pulling her into a tight hug. Seeing her hurt, _shot_ , had scared the shit out of him but refusing to talk to her would get them nowhere. "I'm sorry too, for not talking to you."

She buried her face into his chest, shoulders trembling as she forced herself not to break down.

When they got back to the car and her eyes were bloodshot, Dom didn't comment on it.


	7. A Car, A Torch, A Death (or two)

Mykie was bouncing in her seat when they pulled up to Race Wars. The entire event was a lot bigger than she thought it would be. There was so much going on; cars parked outside showing off, people on dirt bikes doing stunts, drag races, dancing, music blasting from every direction.

The event was in the desert, so Mykie didn't feel too out of place wearing shorts and a bikini top. Her hair was pulled back to keep it out of her face, one of Jesse's beanies on over her head. He complained every time that she grabbed it, but he couldn't hide the small smile on his face every time she did.

The Toretto crew, now including Brian and Mykie, set up a spot where they could stay out of the sun. Vince, Dom, and Leon were sitting down, drinking beer. Letty had gone off to race and make some cash. Mykie was dancing with Jesse, letting herself move in tune with the music. He had his hands on her hips, swaying behind her with his face buried in her shoulder.

"Remind me to take you to a music festival sometime soon," she called over the music, turning around to face him. "They're really fun!"

He grinned, pulling her close and giving her a kiss. Mykie melted into it, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Camper?" He breathed, a little hopeful, while mouthing at her neck. She pulled away, shaking her head.

"I was actually thinking of going to take a look around. First time here, y'know?" She grinned, fixing her beanie. Jesse nodded and gave her another kiss.

"Okay, I'll be here or in the camper." He replied, and she nodded.

Mykie stole a beer from the cooler and ran off. Dom had been kind enough to let her put a six-pack of Smirnoff in there, since she didn't like Corona.

While she walked around, a few guys would catcall to her. She ignored it though, not letting them ruin her mood. One even tried to make a move towards her, but another man hit him and insulted him for it, and they quickly got into a fist fight. Fights looked to be common, so unless it got serious, security didn't seem to care.

There was a large crowd cheering, a large circle in the middle large enough for people to dance. From a car next to them, there was a loud hip hop beat blaring from the speakers. Mykie managed to push her way to the front, watching the man dance. He was moving fluently, doing some impressive moves.

Someone pushed her and she stumbled into the circle, causing the man to stop. He smirked and lunged at her, only to stop right in front of her and move back, dancing to the music. Mykie watched, nodding her head absentmindedly.

"Alright, alright." She said quietly and let herself get familiar with the beat before moving. They battled it out, dancing back and forth with one another. He tried to make a pass at her in the middle of the dance, but she swiftly dodged it. He smirked and tried to come at her again, but each time he did, she rolled or twisted out of the way. It became a dance of cat and mouse, and she hated being mouse.

When he finally managed to catch her and pull her into him, he made the mistake of grabbing her ass like he owned it. She pushed him away and decked him, glaring down at him as he hit the ground. "Don't fucking touch me," she snarled, before turning on her feet and storming off.

"The nerve of some people," she griped, finishing her beer and tossing it into one of the trash cans set up. "Should of stayed a the damn camper."

"Holy shit!" She heard a voice yell before a large body was colliding into her side. Mykie yelped, flailing her arms to try and catch herself when she hit the ground, but was kept upright by the person's hands on her waist. "What are you doing at Race Wars, shorty?"

She looked up, ready to yell at whoever it was, but saw her friend instead. She was in an outfit similar to Mykie's, with her hair pulled up into a high ponytail. "Vix! It's good to see you, holy shit." She hugged the woman, causing her to laugh and return it. "It's been such a crazy few weeks, it's great to see a familiar face that isn't my brother."

"You're so going to be telling me about it. How's your side? Good?" Given that she was wearing a bikini top, it was easy to look down and see the wound. It was mostly healed, but would leave behind one hell of a scar.

Mykie grimaced, ignoring the phantom pain that flared, and flashes of a reminder of what happened ( _running, harsh breathing, and painpainpain_ ). "Yeah. I had to get it stitched back up after I tore them, but it's all good now. What are you doing at this anyways? I didn't take you for someone to care about racing."

"I don't like doing it myself, but I do like to watch." The blonde started to grin, and she shoved her shoulder. "Don't be gross, Mykie. You know what I mean."

The shorter woman just beamed. "I know, Vee. You should come meet my friends, though. I think you'd like them."

"If anyone hangs around your crazy ass _willingly_ , I have to meet them," Vix smirked, watching the shorter blonde huff and set her hands on her hips.

"You willingly hang around me."

"I already know I'm a little crazy, shorty."

Mykie rolled her eyes and linked arms with Vix, dragging her off in the direction of the gang. They met Brian right outside the camper, and Mykie was quick to do introductions. "Vix, this is my brother, Brian. Brian, Vix."

The door to the camper burst open and Vix pulled her back just short of getting hit in the face. "Is this one of yours too?" She asked the shorter blonde, hands resting on her shoulders.

"Yeah. Jesse, hey!" Mykie grinned, pulling him into a quick kiss. He seemed to be in a hurry, and that set off a few alarm bells in her head. "Where you headed?"

He started to walk off and the three were quick to follow. Vix glanced at Mykie with a brow raised, but she just shrugged.

"Hey, what's that in your hand?" Brian questioned, pointing at Jesse. Mykie grabbed his wrist and stopped him from walking off, looking at his hand.

"Throwing down the pink slip, just like you, Bri." He said confidently, getting excited. He barely got to race, but when he did, it was a great feeling.

"To the Jetta?" Brian asked, and he nodded. "Dude, you can't race your dad's car."

They started walking again, Mykie grabbing Jesse's free hand just to hold. "It's alright. I ain't losing."

"You don't know that for sure, baby." Mykie cut in, looking up at him.

"This fool is running a Honda 2000. I'll win. That way, me and my dad can roll when he gets out of prison. It's all good." Jesse reassured, choosing to ignore the concerned look in his girlfriend's eyes.

Mykie shook her head, "They're gonna throw him right back in prison after he kills you."

"It's all good, baby. I got this." Jesse pulled his hand out of her's, "Shit! I'm up." He took off running, the twins following behind him.

Leon was pulling up the Jetta, stepping out once he'd parked at the starting line. Jesse got in, hands gripping the steering wheel. "You visualize the win. Visualize the win, Jesse. I'm serious. You got to listen to me, man."

Brian stood at the passenger side of the car, Mykie on the driver's. She leaned into the window, giving him a kiss. "Who you racin'?" She questioned. The window rolled down slowly, revealing Johnny Tran. "Jesse, don't do it. I bet you he's got more than a hundred grand under the hood of that car."

Jesse nodded, not really listening. "Uh-huh." Mykie sighed and walked to stand between Leon and Brian as they were told to stand back.

The man between the cars dropped his arms, and they were off. They were evenly matched for a few feet, before the Jetta suddenly shot forward.

Mykie cursed loudly, "Shit! Too early, babe." She ran her hands through her hair, frowning at the scene before her. Vix put a hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her calm. A few seconds later, the Honda shot forward, crossing the finish line. Tran pulled to a stop, but Jesse kept on driving.

Mykie smacked Leon on the chest to break him out of the shock and they took off back to the camper. "Dom!" She shouted, catching his attention.

"We got problems, bro." Leon informed him, as the bald man stood up.

"What?" He questioned, Vince getting up after him.

Mykie pointed to the Jetta, which was driving off. "It's Jesse."

Dom frowned, stepping up beside Leon and her. "Where's Jesse going?"

"He just raced Tran for slips." Leon told him.

He rubbed his forehead, frown deepening, "Oh, shit."

Tran was quickly approaching in the Honda. "Double shit." Mykie groaned, hands going to rest at the top of her head.

"Who's Tran?" Vix whispered, feeling like she was intruding on a family crisis.

"He ain't shit compared to some people we know, but here, he's pretty nasty." Mykie hastily explained, keeping her voice low.

The man got out of his car, slamming the door shut. "Where's he going?"

"He went to the car wash." Dom lied, trying to keep the situation calm.

Tran got into his face. "Whatever, go fetch my car." It was easy to tell he was pissed.

Mykie crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. If he even tries to hurt Jesse, or anyone else in the crew, the next time Brian would see her is in handcuffs.

"Go fetch your car?" Dom mocked, stepping up. He pointed at Tran angrily, "We're not on your block. You better watch who you talk to like that." He turned and started to stomp off, but was stopped.

"Toretto!" Tran shouted, getting the man's attention. "SWAT came into my house, disrespected my whole family, because somebody narc'd me out. And you know what? It was you!"

"Oh shit." Mykie commented, watching the muscled man punch Tran in the face. Dom had tackled him to the ground, punching him repeatedly in the face. The crowd around them immediately grew rowdy, pushing and shoving each other. Security shoved their way through, trying to stop the fight.

Tran's crew was trying to step in, but Leon and Vince were fighting them off. A hand gripped Mykie's arm tightly, spinning her around to come face-to-face with, which, figures he was one of Tran's, the man she was dancing with earlier before he started to get handsy. Without a moment's hesitation, she punched him square in the nose, watching him shout and trip over his own feet.

Lance was stomping up to the scene, but Letty punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. She looked back at the blonde, grinning. "Girl power, right?" She held out her fist and Mykie smirked, bumping it with her own.

"Hell yeah."

It took Vince and a security guard to get Dom off of Tran. He struggled to get out of their arms, shouting, "I never narc'd on nobody!" All while watching Tran spit the blood in his mouth out onto the blacktop.

Brian was staring at Dom, getting shoved around by the crowd. He turned his gaze to find his sister, watching Vix and Letty start to pull her out of the crowd before she got pushed over and stomped on.

The Toretto family started to walk off, and Mykie was ready to follow, but Vix stopped her. She looked up at her, confused. "I think it's my time to go, shorty. This is getting into some personal shit, it looks like. Call me if you ever need anything, a'ight?"

The blonde nodded and pulled her into a quick hug. "Yeah. Same goes to you, okay? Take care of yourself."

Later that night, Mykie was nursing a bottle of beer in her hands as she sat in the camper. Her knee bounced, and she couldn't stop fidgeting in her seat. She was extremely pissed and worried and tired, but felt like if she sat still, she would explode.

There was music playing outside, people dancing and grilling, but she wasn't in the mood to party. She stared at the floor of the camper, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Jesse wouldn't answer his phone, making her more upset.

Brian suddenly walked in and she looked up at him. "Have you seen Mia anywhere?" He asked, and she shook her head. "Jesse hasn't answered his phone?" Again, she shook her head. "Shit."

Both startled, hearing shouting outside. "I have respected you and I haven't said shit. Now I am asking you not to go."

Dom put his hands on her arms, trying to calm her down. "I'm doing this for the both of us."

Mia shook her head, stepping back. "Don't give me that crap. You're doing this for you. Why are you insisting on doing this? Dom, please, just don't." Dom shook his head and got into his car, Leon getting in on the passenger side. Vince got into his own car, taking off behind Dom.

"C'mon." Brian told his sister and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the camper. She let him, her worry about Jesse getting pushed onto the back burner. This seemed more important, at the moment, at least.

They easily caught up to Mia. "Mia, what's going on?" He called out to her, stopping her.

She looked back at the two, frowning. "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about." He snapped, dragging Mykie behind him.

"No, I don't."

"What, so you always have tears in your eyes when Dom drives away?" Brian retorted, causing her to stop.

Mia snapped at him, "What's the matter with you?" She continued walking at a fast pace, forcing the twins to try to keep up.

"What's he racing off in the middle of the night for? You know about the trucks?"

Mykie frowned at him. She did, but how did he know?

"Listen to me." Brian looked at her, right in the eyes. "Mia, I'm a cop."

Mykie looked at him, eyes going wide. Out of all the things, she wasn't expecting that. He just blew his cover, all for a girl. If that was all it took, he was going to be a shit detective.

"What are you talking about, Brian? What is this?" Mia frowned, looking up at him. She glanced at his twin, but she just shrugged with her hands up.

"Ever since the first time I met you, I've been undercover. I'm a cop." He explained, speaking quietly and slowly.

Mia stared at him, searching for any sign that this was a joke. She found none. "Oh, you bastard. You bastard!" She turned to look at Mykie, glaring. "Let me guess, you're a cop, too?"

Mykie stared at the two, eyes wide in panic. She didn't want to get dragged into this shit! "What? No!"

Mia turned to walk away, but Brian stopped her by grabbing her and calling her name. "Get off of me, Brian!" He called her name again, stopping her by grabbing her arms.

"Mia! Listen to me!" He almost shouted. "Everything I ever said I felt about you was real. I swear to God. You have to believe me, Mia. But this isn't about you and me. Your brother's out there to pull a job. We're running out of time. Those truckers aren't lying down anymore. Maybe they'll make it through tonight, but every law enforcement agency is coming down on them. If you don't want anything to happen to them, you have to get in that car with me right now and help me." He was at the point of pleading now, "Mia, you are the only person that can help me right now."

At that, Mykie frowned. "What am I? Chopped liver?" Brian sent her a glare and she put her hands up in surrender. "Sorry."

"Please, Mia. Please help me." He pleaded, turning back to the brunette. She stared at him for a minute or two before nodding jerkily.

"I'm going to try and find Jesse," Mykie told the two. There wasn't enough room in the Supra for her to come along, and she wasn't about to sit in Mia's lap. "Be careful, both of you."

Brian grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. "You too, Mykie. Don't do something stupid."

She scoffed, "I could say the same to you."

He nodded and got into the Supra, Mia climbing into the passenger seat.

Mykie watched them leave before pulling out her phone, dialing Vix's number. Hopefully she hadn't left yet. "Hey, are you still here at Race Wars? Good. Do you remember where the camper is? I need your help with something." She hung up, turning on her heel and walking to the camper.

It took a few minutes for her to show up, but Vix managed to find the camper in the dark. She knocked before opening the door, finding Mykie sitting with Jesse's laptop in front of her. "You good, shorty?" The girl's hand was clenched so tight that her fist was shaking, the other logging into the computer easily.

"Yeah. I need you to help me find Jesse. He hasn't answered me for hours now, and I'd rather find him before Tran does." She explained, twisting the computer around to face Vix as she sat down on the other side of the small booth.

"You're lucky I eventually learned how to track cell phones, Mykie." The woman immediately got to work on the computer, eyes barely leaving the screen. "You do know that's mostly Ray's thing. The most I do is sell weapons."

Mykie shrugged. "Well, I don't have the time to waste to sit here and wait on her to get here." She leaned against the table, resting her chin on her fist. "I don't even have a car to use to go find him. Shit!" She should have driven herself there, but she hadn't wanted to.

"I'll drive you," Vix looked at her over the laptop's screen, giving her a small smile. "You obviously care about him. Never thought I'd see you go soft," she teased, giving the girl a harsh reminder of how she was forced to act when dealing with people while around her old crew.

Mykie rolled her eyes, giving her a dry look. "Thanks."

She twisted the laptop back around, showing a map of California, with a blinking red dot that Mykie assumed was Jesse. "You know where this is?"

Figures he would go and hide at their secret beach. She sighed, watching the dot to make sure it didn't move in the few seconds she stared at it. "Yeah, I know exactly where that is. I can give you directions while you're driving."

Vix shut the laptop and the two stood up, rushing out of the camper. They ran to where Vix's car was parked and jumped in, tearing out of the place. It wasn't up to the standards Mykie was used to, but it would get them where she needed to go. Besides, at least it was quicker than a cab.

She couldn't help but bounce her leg while her friend drove, staring out of the window while the scenery passed by quickly. She couldn't believe that Jesse had been idiotic enough to drive away from Tran like that. Who knows what the man would do to him if he found him?

"Here's some money for gas." Mykie pulled her wallet out, giving Vix a handful of bills. They had been driving for a while, and the sun would be rising soon. They slowed to a stop at the end of the road, and she started to get out, but Vix's hand on her arm stopped her.

"If you say this guy is pretty nasty, you're going to need more than a pocketknife to keep you safe." She reached into the glove box and pulled out a pistol, handing it to the blonde. "It's loaded. Be careful, Mykie. You're one of few people that I actually like."

She smiled, tucking the gun into the back of her shorts. There was a jacket tossed in the backseat, so she grabbed it to try to keep the gun hidden. "I'll call you when this is all over, okay?"

Vix nodded and drove off, leaving her at the end of the road. There were no headlights on, making it that much harder to see the Jetta, which was a good thing. The harder it would be to find Jesse, the better.

She walked down to the car, finding him sitting on the hood, watching the ocean. "You know, you scared the shit out of everyone," she spoke up, watching him jump and spin around to look at her.

"Jesus, Mykie." He huffed clutching his chest. "How did you get here? How'd you even find me?"

She walked over and pushed herself up onto the hood of the car, sitting next to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "I asked Vix to track your phone. Thanks for ignoring my calls, by the way. Ass." She poked him in the ribs, frowning up at him.

"Sorry. I just… I got so scared." Jesse admitted, his grip on her tightening. "I panicked!"

Mykie put a hand on his jaw and pulled him into a kiss. "I get it, man. You should have called one of us or something, though. We were worried sick!" She scolded, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I didn't mean to make you worry." He buried his face in her hair, feeling her shoulders drop as some of her worry faded. "How are the others? Did one of them drive you out here?"

She tensed up. Should she tell him that Brian broke his cover and told Mia he was a cop? That she knew about the trucks? Shit, if the Torettos were the ones doing it, was Jesse part of it? She'd be more surprised if he wasn't.

"Mykie?"

The blonde opened her mouth, trying to come up with the words, but struggled. "I know about the trucks, Jesse. That you and the others are jacking 'em." She felt him freeze up, but forced herself to continue. If she didn't tell him, Mia would and it would be worse hearing it from her than his own… whatever they were. "I know because Brian has been undercover investigating them. He's a cop."

He pulled his arm away, turning to look at her. "What?" She had to be joking. Please let her be joking.

"My last name isn't even Spilner." She admitted, glancing up at him. "Michelle O'Conner, at your service," she tried to joke, but it fell flat.

"So you've lied this entire time?" He questioned, and she flinched when his voice broke. "To me, Mia, Dom? Have you been faking everything?" Jesse got off of the hood, pacing around.

Mykie slid off of it after him, trying to get him to stop. "Jesse, the only thing I lied about was my name and where I'm from, and I _had_ to because of Brian's job. Ask me anything and I promise you, it's the actual truth."

He stared at her, hesitant to ask her anything. Sure, she says it'd be the truth, but finding all of this out now? How could he believe her? "If you're not from Arizona, where are you from?"

"Barstow," she immediately answered. "Grew up there before we ditched town when we were twenty. Brian came here to be a cop, and I've been in Europe for the last three years." He was still frowning, so she grabbed his hands, trying to get him to meet her eyes. "Jesse, please believe me."

Jesse looked at her and saw nothing but fear and honesty. He sighed and pulled her close, and she let go of his hands to wrap her arms around him. "Fine. But you better not be lying to me about anything else."

Glad that her best friend wasn't mad enough to hate her, she tried to get control over her emotions. "I'm not, I promise."

When Brian pulled up to the driveway, parking so the Charger couldn't leave, he got out to try and talk to Dom. He had already torched the cars left behind from the failed hijacking, had made peace with the fact that he was going to be in a shitload of trouble for it, and was ready to just call it quits for the day. He wanted to shower and never leave bed and ignore how Vince's blood was still dried and flaked under his fingernails.

Dom walked out of the garage, shotgun in his hands. He was tensed and pissed, but he needed to go look for Jesse.

Brian knelt down, pulling his gun out and pointing it at the man. "Dom, put the gun down!"

"Move your car." Dom ordered, growling at the blonde.

Brian didn't move from his spot. He didn't think he could shoot the man, but he was going to bluff as much as he could. "No bullshit! Put it down now! No more running!"

"I'm not running!" Dom roared, slamming his hand against the roof of the Charger in anger.

Brian stood up, his gun still aimed at the other man. "Where's Leon and Letty?"

"They're long gone." The two started slowly walking towards each other.

"Then it's over. I didn't call the police, but don't push me!" Brian shouted, stepping closer. "Put the gun down. I swear to God!" His hand trembled, but it wasn't enough for Dom to notice.

"You are the cop! You're a cop!" Dom shouted, pointing at him. "Brian, I got to find Jesse before Tran does. I'm all the kid's got."

Brian tried to reason with him. "I'll call in the plates. PD will pick him up way before Johnny even gets near him."

"Move your car." Dom repeated.

Mia walked out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her. "Dom, stop it! It's over. Please."

"Mia, stay out of it! Move the-" The sound of a familiar engine met their ears, the white Jetta pulling up behind the Supra seconds after.

Jesse and Mykie got out, Jesse walking to stand beside her in front of the passenger side. She had his beanie on, arms crossed tight over her chest as she met Brian's eyes. She gave him a nod, letting him know she was okay.

"Dom, I am so sorry, man. I panicked and ran. I don't know what's going to happen now." Jesse was fidgeting, still nervous over Tran, but Mykie had managed to keep him calmer than he would have been without her.

Dom had never been more happy to see him. "What were you thinking, man?" He questioned, forcing himself to stay calm and not yell at the kid.

"I don't know what I'm doing! I got so scared, man. Will you please help me?"

The sound of multiple bike engines met their ears and Dom turned, watching Johnny and Lance approach on their bikes, guns in hands.

They started shooting, and Mykie acted quickly. Heart pounding loudly in her chest, she moved and grabbed Jesse's arms and yanked him so he was in front of her, pushing them both down onto the ground. Glass sprayed everywhere from the windows in the Jetta, showering down on both of them.

Everyone had dropped to the ground, waiting for the two to pass. When they were out of sight, Dom ran over, Mia following quickly behind. "Jesse! Mykie!" The brunette screamed, jumping off of the ledge of the yard.

Mykie felt like she could hardly breath, hands braced on either side of Jesse's head. He was staring up at her, eyes wide. "You good?" She managed to struggle out, chest heaving. It didn't feel like she had been hit, but she could easily be wrong from all the adrenaline pumping through her body.

Mia dropped to the ground next to the two and grabbed Mykie. She checked her over, hands frantic, but the blonde was fine. Dom checked Jesse, but he had only been shot in the shoulder.

Brian hesitated to go after them, looking between Mykie and the direction Tran went. He was terrified that she had been hit, but he needed to go after them.

"Go, I'm good," she yelled at him, waving her hand. Her wrists and knees ached from dropping to the ground so harshly, but it was better than being shot and dead.

He nodded and turned, getting into the Supra and speeding off after Tran.

Dom quickly followed, stomping to the Charger and ignoring his sister's shouts, telling him not to follow.

"We need to get you to a hospital." Mykie said, helping Jesse sit up. He groaned, hand clutching his shoulder tightly. She cradled a hand against the side of his face, leaning in and letting her forehead rest against his. " _Fuck_. That got close." She shuddered. If she hadn't been there to pull him down, he would have died.

"I'm good-" he took a deep breathe and his shoulder burned, making him groan and flinch. "I'm alive." he corrected himself.

Mykie nodded, looking distractedly in the direction that her brother had driven off towards. She didn't know what happened, or when her brother would tell her, but something was wrong.

Mia walked back outside with her phone in her hand, though Mykie had never noticed that she left the two in the first place. "There's an ambulance coming, but we're going to have to give a report to the police when they get there."

"So what's the story then?" Mykie asked, looking between the two. "What the fuck even happened while you guys were going after Dom?"

* * *

 **Tell me what you think! Hoped you enjoy it. This is longer, like I promised, and we're going to be getting into 2 Fast 2 Furious territory soon. I'm hype.**

 **Also! Unless I get stuck on a chapter, updates should be coming at _least_ once a week, every Wednesday from now on. I'm gonna force myself to stay on a schedule so I don't get behind on chapters because I was excited to post lmao. **


	8. Everybody Needs Someone Beside 'Em

" _So what's the story then?" Mykie asked, looking between the two. "What the fuck even happened while you guys were going after Dom?"_

 _Mia explained how Vince had gotten hurt while jumping on the truck, and how Brian had jumped from the Supra, while it was moving!, to help him. He would have died out there in the desert, but Brian outed himself by calling it in and using his officer status to get a helicopter out to them. Letty and Leon had taken off, waiting for further orders from Dom on what to do._

 _They ended up not using a story at all when they arrived at the hospital. Jesse had gotten checked out in the ER, but the police had never showed up._

 _Mia told them that Vince might be here as well, but that his arm was so bad she didn't think they could get him out before the feds eventually got there._

 _She was going to end up owing Vix a lot of favors, but Mykie borrowed Mia's phone and called her friend. She stood off to the side, mumbling so quiet into the phone that Mia and Jesse had trouble hearing her over the chatter of the ER. "Hey, Vee. I need your girlfriend's skills with computers. I'll send her cash for it, if she wants it, and I'll owe you big time… You'll do it? Great. I need you to wipe the computers for a few records for me."_

 _Jesse and Vince were wiped from the hospitals systems, and the LAPD's computers had 'mysteriously' malfunctioned for a few minutes while Ray went to work on getting rid of the evidence for the wreck from their records. Nobody was sent out to question Mia and Jesse, too busy trying to get their computers back online._

 _They would come after them, eventually, but hopefully by then everything was figured out and they would have no real evidence on the crew._

 _She was worried than Tran and Lance would come after them again once they figured out that Jesse was alive still, but Ray told her not to. There was word over the radios that there were teams being sent out for two deaths, one wrecked off the side of the road and another shot._

" _Tell your girl I said thanks. I'll have the money transferred to her before the end of the night. I got a lot of ends to tie up; Bri and I are gonna skip town. He's done something and if that doesn't have them after his ass, whatever he's going to end up doing with Dom will. Yeah? Alright, see 'ya."_

 _Brian showed up not too long after that. He was aiming to help break Vince out, but had it explained that Vince was fine. Ray had taken care of it. Since he had torched the cars, and there was no way the trucker would talk, there was nothing that could be pinned on the crew._

 _That didn't mean they wouldn't keep coming after them, and Dom was still going to be hunted. Brian would be too, after throwing the case to hell, but he wasn't too worried about it._

" _Mykie…" He gave her a look and she sighed. He needed to leave, and there was no way she was going to let him go by himself. "I'm sorry," he told Jesse and Mia before leaving the hospital._

 _The blonde reached up and pulled Jesse down into a rough kiss, making sure their last one was the best. "I gotta go, Jay. They'll be coming after him, and he's my brother, he comes first. This'll be the last time you see me. I'm sorry."_

 _He tried to grab her hand to ask her to stay, even though he knew she'd refuse, but she slipped away before he could._

It took four and a half hours for Brian to drive from Los Angeles to Phoenix, Arizona. The Supra had been given to Dom, so they had to take Mykie's car instead. She was exhausted after spending most of the day in the hospital and the adrenaline drop, so she handed her keys over to her brother.

Mykie slept the entire ride, head resting against the window. It was silent between the two of them, the only sound in the car being the radio playing on low volume.

They needed cash, so Brian found a local race. Mykie would almost never let someone race her car, so he woke her up. Of course, she glared at him for waking her up from her slumber, but agreed to do the race. They needed the money, if they were going to get to where they were going.

Which, they still didn't know where the hell they were going, just that it was away from California.

She shoved Brian out of the car and got to the starting line. The other driver cooed at her, trying to rile her up, but she ignored it. Adjusting the beanie on her head, she moved one hand to the wheel, the other on the gear shift. She wanted to get this over with and get back on the road.

A race bunny walked out and smiled at the two racers. As soon as she dropped the flag, Mykie took off.

She let the other racer think he had a chance, staying neck-and-neck with him, but shifted gears and sped up at last second. She won the race and got out of the car, giving him a smirk, eyes cold.

The racer's girl was yelling at him, but he ignored her and handed over the winnings. Mykie took it, handing it to Brian. She held her hand out, waiting for him to shake it. Both the racer and his girl looked surprised, but he shook her hand.

Brian wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led them back to the Camaro. It was her turn to drive, so Brian could sleep. She got in, turning the car around and driving away from the race. They got back onto the highway, driving to New Mexico.

While she drove, Mykie thought of the last good times she had with the Toretto crew.

 _It was silent in the Toretto house, the day only just starting to begin. Mykie was the first to wake up, slipping out of Jesse's arms. She yawned, grabbing a hair tie and pulling her hair up into a half-assed bun. There was a pair of basketball shorts on the floor so she grabbed them and pulled them on, getting out of the bed._

 _She walked downstairs, heading straight to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee for everyone. That was one of the unspoken rules in the house. If you're the first to get up, you have to make the coffee. The blonde leaned against the counter, watching the glass pot fill with coffee._

 _"Morning, My-" Letty stopped, staring at the blonde. She snorted, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle it. "Have you looked in the mirror this morning?"_

 _Mykie frowned at her. "No, why?"_

 _"You might want to." Letty informed, gesturing to her face._

 _Mykie's frown deepened and she left the kitchen, running upstairs._

 _It was silent for a moment, before a loud yell bellowed throughout the house. "Leon! I'm going to kill you!" Her face was covered in Sharpie doodles. A large drawing of a dick on her forehead, another right next to her mouth. On her cheek, in big letter, were the words, 'I love Leon :)'._

 _The rest of the house was woken up, stepping outside of their rooms with groans. "What the hell, Mykie?" Dom grunted, walking out of his room._

 _Said blonde stepped out of the bathroom, jaw clenched and eyes burning with rage. "I'm going to kill him." She spat, beginning to make her way to the last door. Dom stopped her wrapping an arm around her waist and picking her up like it was nothing. She struggled, kicking her legs. "Let me go, Dom!"_

 _Brian walked out of his room, arm wrapped around Mia. He took one look at Mykie and turned on his heel, dragging Mia back inside and closing the door. It was too early to deal with that._

 _Vince stepped out, complaining about 'rude bitches waking him up and shit'. But then he caught the sight of her face and snorted in laughter. "It's a good look for you, Spilner." He sneered, smirking at her. She glared at him, baring her teeth._

 _"Piss off, Vince." Mykie growled, still struggling._

 _Leon stepped out of his bedroom, looking proud of his work. "So I take it you didn't like my drawings?" He teased, grinning at the blonde. She struggled even more, kicking out at Leon._

 _"C'mere and let me kick you in the face, pretty boy." She snapped, trying to pull Dom's arm away from her middle. Jesse stepped out of the room, yawning and running a hand through his hair._

 _He smiled at the drawing on Mykie's face, barely holding back laughter. "Babe, calm down." He tried, stepping in front of her. That made her stop kicking, so she wouldn't hurt him._

 _"But-" Jesse stopped her, pressing a kiss to her lips. She was still tense, but returned it without hesitation. When he pulled back, she was pouting. "That's not fair."_

 _Dom let her go once she was calmed down, letting Jesse take over the situation._

 _She feigned lunging at Leon and gave him a dangerous grin when he jumped back._

They were halfway to New Mexico, when Mykie needed to stop. She could barely keep her eyes open, and she'd noticed she started swerving. She reached over and shook Brian until he woke up. "Get some cash out, we need to rent a motel room."

He nodded, barely understanding what she said while trying to wake up fully. Brian opened the glove box and pulled out a wad of cash from one of their races. Mykie pulled off at the next exit, going to one of the few motels around. She chose one of the nicer looking ones, parking her car in the back.

They got out and grabbed the duffel bag, going inside. Mykie ordered a room with a queen bed, wanting to save their money. Brian didn't put up a fight, too tired from the ride.

At first, they laid on their respective sides of the bed. But Mykie was a cuddler, and ended up rolling over and curling into his side.

When they woke up the next morning, Brian had a face full of hair. He groaned and shoved Mykie away, accidentally pushing her off the bed.

"Dick," she groaned, not moving to pick herself up.

"Bitch." Brian retorted, rolling over and trying to fall back asleep.

Mykie sighed, rolling over on the carpet so she was on her back. She stared up at the ceiling, noticing a small crack next to the light. "Bri?" She said quietly, clutching handfuls of her shirt. He groaned, but rolled back over. "What are we going to do?"

Brian opened his eyes, leaning over to look at the blonde on the floor. "I don't know, Mykes. I'm still trying to figure that out."

She nodded, turning her head to look at him. She gave him a crooked grin, holding out her fist. "We'll figure out it, like we always do. And I'll be there every step of the way with 'ya"

The younger twin smiled and bumped his fist with her's. "Hell yeah."

Mykie studied him, eyes narrow. "We need to give you a haircut, maybe darken your hair a bit." Brian opened his mouth to reject it, but she stopped him. "At least until the manhunt for you calms down."

Brian grumbled, sitting up. "Fine. What about your hair, though? You're wanted too, for aiding a wanted man and all."

"I ain't cutting this, or dying it, for nothing." She shook her head, grabbing the beanie on the bedside table. In the weeks that they were on the run, it still smelled like Jesse. "That's why I have this and hair ties." Brian gave her a look, and she groaned. "Fine. I've always wanted to know what I'd look like as a brunette. If we're staying south, it'll probably be a good idea to cut it, too. Shit got too hot in LA, I doubt the humidity would help it much now."

The twins got back on the road after changing their hair. They stopped at more races, getting more cash for the trip.

Finally, after a couple days, Mykie made Brian race for pink slips. One could only take being cooped up in the car with the same person for so long. He used her car, racing for a 1991 Dodge Stealth. He won, of course, and they were off.

The national manhunt for Brian and Mykie went on for a few more months. They traveled from New Mexico to Texas, stopping at hotels and working for garages when they could, also doing races on the side. They kept low enough that they hadn't been caught yet, which was good.

In Texas, they stopped at yet another motel. It was connected to a diner, where they had their meals at for a few days.

"I see you eyeing someone behind me. Stop it." Mykie said, pausing in eating her plate of pancakes. She'd gotten there before Brian and ordered her food already.

Brian looked at her, grabbing the newspaper at the end of the table to look at it. "I'm not eyeing anybody."

She pointed her fork at the blonde, eyes narrowed. "Don't bullshit me, Bri. I see you glancing over my shoulder and smiling." Mykie turned her head, catching a pretty blonde sitting in the booth behind them. "No," she told him, turning back around.

Brian's face was innocent as he opened the newspaper. "I wasn't doing any- shit." He cursed quietly, laying the newspaper down and sliding it to her. On the front page were their faces. _Alleged Fugitives, Undercover Cop, Still Missing_ , was printed in large letters at the top.

"They really could have used a better picture of me." Mykie commented, flipping the paper over so nobody could see it.

"Yeah, that looks like the picture you had taken for your passport. Not the best, sis," Brian grinned, poking fun at the wild mess her hair was from the humidity that day. She rolled her eyes, stabbing her fork into the stack of pancakes.

"At least it's better than your license." She gave her twin an innocent smile. The blonde had started to sneeze right before the DMV took it, so his face had ended scrunched up and looking very annoyed.

Brian opened his mouth, to make a comment, but he froze. He lifted his hands up, clasping them together in fists, and used it to hide his face.

Mykie was about to question what he was doing, when she saw two officers sit down at the bar counter next to them. Suddenly, she was glad she'd put her hair up in a bun and hidden it under her beanie. She lowered her head, grabbing her drink and taking a sip to use her hand to hide her face.

She jerked her head towards the window, gesturing for them to leave, and got up from her seat. He nodded and they casually walked outside, getting in their cars. Mykie made a mental note to take it to get a new paint job before the day ended. No doubt they'd start tracking their cars.

Mykie dropped her car off at a local garage, paying for it to get painted. She didn't have a certain color in mind, and just told the man to surprise her. When she got it back, it was a solid black with a single white stripe down the middle. She grinned and paid him extra for it.

When she pulled it up to the motel later that night, she saw police surrounding the Dodge that Brian had won. She cursed, waving for him to get into the car when he'd come around the corner. He nodded, running to her and jumping in. Mykie took off, going just over the speed limit as she was leaving.

She drove until they got to a town just outside of San Antonio. Brian asked her to pull into a car dealer, grabbing the cash from the races they went to out of his duffel bag.

Of course, he just so happened to find a Skyline. Figures. Mykie rolled her eyes at that, waiting for him to pull out of the dealer first before following behind him.

They stopped a couple towns over, staying in a hotel while Brian worked at a garage, modding the Skyline. He gave it a new paint job, a metallic silver, before getting on the road again.

The two traveled, stopping at more races. At some point, two bikers tried racing against them. They sped off, soon getting pulled over by a cop. Mykie and Brian laughed as they passed the group, the former throwing up a peace sign as she passed.

Eventually, they got to Miami. She'd have preferred to go to New York instead, but followed her twin anyway. Who knows, maybe going to Miami would be a good thing.

They stopped at a red light, side by side. On the opposite side, two cars, obviously racers, took a turn. Mykie looked over at her twin and raised an eyebrow in a silent question. _Follow them?_ He nodded and she grinned, waiting for the light to turn grin before following the cars.

Later that night, at the race they were directed to, they met the driver's of the cars. A black man that went by Slap Jack, and a Hispanic man named Orange Julius. They were cool, but also arrogant. Thought that because Mykie was a both a girl and that she was driving an American Muscle car, she couldn't race.

So she did and completely smoked their asses.

The man who had supposedly set it all up, Tej Parker, and Brian were laughing when she crossed the finish line. She mock bowed, grinning at the cheering crowd.

"Damn, girl! We should call you Zip 'cause of how you crossed that finish line." Tej grinned, pulling her in by her hand and clapping her on the back. "Where the hell did you learn to drive like that?"

Mykie gestured over to her brother, who was looking smug. "Him and my other brother taught me after I hounded them a couple of times. Still haven't beaten Bri, but I'm getting there."

Tej smirked at Brian but the man only rolled his eyes. "You two new to town? You gotta be, ain't no way I'd have missed seeing your cars around." He glanced from Mykie, lingering on her before looking at the Camaro and Skyline.

"Yeah, just got in town today." Brian admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know a place we could stay?"

"If you two start driving for me," Tej started, and the twins perked up, "like you did tonight, I might have a lil' something for you two. Got a boathouse nobody uses. You'll have to share, 'cause my man Jimmy stole the other one a few months back." He rolled his eyes and the two snorted.

Mykie smiled at him, smile more genuine this time around, and held her hand out for Tej. "I think I'm gonna like you, Tej."

* * *

 **Not exactly happy with this, but eh. I want to get it out of the way. Let me know what you think! I love every single one of you that have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. Seriously, it's what's keeping me from feeling _too_ badly about my own writing. **


	9. These Streets Were My Teachers

The street scene in Miami was as lively as ever. Music, cars, and half-naked women everywhere. Everyone was trying to one up each other with their cars, showing off what they had under the hood. At the starting line for the first race of the night, three cars were up and ready to go.

"Come on, Tej. Let's get this race going!" Julius shouted, leaning against his car, a Mazda RX7.

Tej walked between the cars, shaking his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second, man. You cats are first wave. Where's your fourth at?"

Slap Jack answered him, sitting against the hood of his Toyota Supra Turbo. "Yo, it was Joaquin, but he had to work the graveyard shift."

"What? Graveyard shift, man?"

Slap Jack pushed himself off of the car, gesturing to Tej. "Yo, why don't you run with us, Tej?"

The man shook his head, lips curled back in distaste. "Hell no, I'm not runnin' with y'all, man. Either you find a fourth or you don't race. How 'bout that, huh?" With his leg fucked up from a wreck a couple years back, he couldn't race like he used to.

Julius spoke up, "We should find two, so we don't have to roll with skirt here." He grinned, pointing to Suki.

She jerked her chin up, glancing back at the group of girls leaning against her car as they oh'ed. The woman turned back to Julius, spitting at him. " _Idiota_."

The grin on the Hispanic man's face fell, and he started throwing profanities at her in Spanish. Tej held his hands up, a smirk growing on his face. "Hey, wait a second. Why don't I just find y'all a fourth, and we settle this on the streets, huh?"

Suki shrugged, "Bring him on."

"Anyone I want?" Tej confirmed and Julius nodded. "No matter who it is." The three agreed, so he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial.

Back at the garage, Mykie laid on the creeper, working hard under a '70 Chevy Chevelle. She'd found it at the junkyard while looking for parts one day and fell in love. The paint job was shit, faded and chipped to hell and back. It just screamed disaster, and the inside just as bad as it looked on the outside. Leather seats ripped, layers upon layers of dust on everything. But— it was what was under the hood that counted. A lot of it was rusted, and she had to replace most of it, but the engine was still beautiful.

She had bought it on the spot, using the cash from the race she'd just won the night before. Ever since, she's been working on taking it apart and putting it back together.

The stereo was playing, serving more as background noise than anything. It switched to the next song, notes from a piano drifting out. Given that it was a personal mix she had made, the music went from slow and relaxing to hard guitar and pure musical chaos. She grinned, bobbing her head to the beat.

It was the middle of the night so everyone was either out or in bed. Tej and Suki had gone out to the races, and she was pretty sure Jimmy was asleep for once.

So she was surprised when he brother came up to the car, dragging her out from under the car by her ankle. She raised a brow at him, wondering what the man wanted.

"Tej invited us to a race, if you want to go? We have three and a half minutes to get there, if you do." Brian told her, watching her sit up and smooth down her hair.

The brown had stayed, mostly at the roots while she bleached the tips just to have some of her color back. She missed the length, but also didn't once she learned how much the heat sucked in Florida. It brushed her shoulders, but was easy to brush or pull back when she was working.

Was she really up for a race? None of her cars were ready for one, but that didn't mean she couldn't watch. It only took a second for her to make her decision. "Sure, I could really use one right now." A race always did cheer her up, even if she was only watching in the crowd.

Mykie didn't have time to change, but she was clean enough. Her cargo pants barely had any grease stains, and she was wearing a sports bra under the dirty tank top she took off. There was necklace around her neck, a small seashell charm on it; a gift that had mysteriously showed up at Tej's garage, but she knew who it was from. How Vix had already known she was in Miami was a mystery, but it didn't surprise her.

They got into the Skyline and were off, Brian peeling out of the garage and onto the streets.

When they got to the race, Mykie couldn't help but grin. Steam blew out of the sides of the Skyline, forcing people to step back away from it. There were cheers, when people easily recognized who it was that had just arrived. It reminded her of how Dom could easily have a whole crowd cheering for him when he arrived.

She sighed, forcing thoughts of LA out of her head. Miami was doing good for the twins so far. No need to think of the past.

They stopped, getting out of the car. Mykie smirked at the few race bunnies who glared at her. The girls still couldn't grasp the concept that she was Brian's sister and liked to accuse her of lying about it. But still, she stood in the way of them getting to him.

The twins walked up to Tej, greeting him with fist bumps. "What's up, Tej?" Brian grinned, throwing an arm over Mykie's shoulder.

"What's happening?" Tej smirked, bumping Mykie's fist.

"Thanks for the invite," Brian told him. She grinned, letting her hand fall to her side.

"No problem at all, man. Just, uh... Just remember me when you wax, a'ight?"

The blonde glanced back at the group behind him and smirked. "They got deep pockets?" The twins had raced them before, and it was starting to get to the point that no one wanted to race them at all given that they've never lost since coming to Florida.

Tej chuckled, nodding his head. "Real deep."

The trio turned around to greet the other racers. "What's up, Suki?" Brian greeted.

She jerked her chin up, smirking, "What's up, Bulitt?" She turned her gaze to Mykie. "How you been, Zip?"

Brian grinned, "What do you say we kick it a nickel?"

Orange put his hand up, immediately protesting. "No one said nothing about raising the stakes."

Tej and Brian exchanged looks. Mykie grinned, crossing her arms over her chest. Brian took a few steps towards Orange, hands in his pockets. "If that's the case, why don't you ask these nice people here to back off the line so you can go home?"

The crowd behind Orange 'oh'ed. He turned, gesturing for them to shut up with a scowl. Tej and Mykie stepped up to stand next to Brian, cornering the man. "Hey, hey, hey. Okay. Thirty-five large. Three cinco." He pulled out a roll of cash, slapping it onto Tej's open hand.

Brian handed the man his own cash, exchanging smirks with Mykie. He walked back to his car, his twin following Tej as he approached Slap Jack.

"Thirty five large, huh?" The man questioned, lips pursed.

Tej held out his hand. "Either that or you can go home, brah."

Mykie held her hand out, and Slap Jack handed her the money. "Yeah. It's all there." She just smirked at him and passed it off to Tej.

"It better be," Tej warned, before walking over to where Suki was already waiting in her car. "Damn, Suki. Uh, when you gonna pop my clutch, huh?"

She handed him the cash, "As soon as you get the right set of tools." Mykie laughed, muffling it with her hand. Tej sent her a look before turning back to Suki, smirking.

"Yeah, a'ight." Tej started directing the crowd, Mykie helping. "All right, back up. Back up. Let's go, let's go. Back y'all asses up. Move. Before you turn into barbecue around here," he added when the crowd jumped back from the small fire Brian's car spit out. "It's not a game. This is serious."

Mykie waved her hands, shooing people back. "Let's go people, back it up."

Tej and her stood in front of the crowd on the sidewalk, arms held out. "Everybody keep your hands real, real clear, all right? 'Cause I got a surprise for y'all this evening."

She looked at him, raising a single brow. "That's not worrying at all." She commented, tone dry. He just grinned at her in reply.

The racers revved their engines, the crowd cheering them on. Mykie took charge, pointing at each driver. "You guys ready?" She paused for a moment, raising her arm above her head. "Go!" "Go!" She dropped her arm, and they were off.

The crowd starting chasing after them, cheering loudly.

Mykie followed Tej, everyone walking on foot to where the finish line was. It was a few minutes, and Mykie was hoping that Brian was in the lead. They could really use the money from this. Mykie loved the boat house that Tej was kind enough to let them stay in, but she needed her own place. She wasn't about to ask Tej to sacrifice another boat house for her, not unless she was going to pay rent, and to pay rent, she needed money.

She was putting so much money into the Chevelle that she wouldn't be able to afford the boat house, or any other apartment.

It was a few more minutes before Tej pulled out a walkie-talkie.

"Yo, Jimmy, hit it, baby. Hit it!" He said into it. Mykie frowned, wondering what 'it' was. Her silent question was answered only seconds later, when the bridge started to lift. "A'ight. Y'all see that? Told y'all I had a surprise. How you like that for a finale?"

Mykie looked at him, a battle between anger and excitement going on inside of her. "Tej, I'm going to kick your ass if Brian gets hurt from this stunt."

He waved his hand, dismissing her worry. "He'll be fine, baby girl."

It felt like her heart had leapt into her throat, as she watched Brian fucking fly over Slap Jack as they hit the jump. He landed, sparks flying under the Skyline. Slap Jack lost control of his car, going off-road and into a billboard.

Brian sped up to the crowd, drifting to a stop. Tej and Mykie smirked at him, the latter's shoulders sagging in relief that he was okay. Only seconds after, Suki hit the jump and landed, tearing up her front bumper. She came to a stop behind Brian, hands up as she cheered.

Mykie ran up to her twin as he got out of the car, throwing herself at him. She gave him a hug, accidentally slamming him back into the Skyline from the force, and pulled back before he could even react. "Hell yeah, Bri! That was totally wicked!"

Tej approached them, the crowd gathering around them. "Tell me y'all saw that, man. Bullet and Suki sprayed the bridge, and I need to start making y'all pay to see this shit. I got over 10 stacks for my man right here, a'ight?" He handed Brian the money, only for the blonde to hand him some back. Tej held it up for the crowd to see. "Right. Y'all see this? Everybody take a real good look. This what you call mutual respect. A'ight, let's clear out. Anybody down for another race?"

He walked off, leaving the twins behind. Mykie looked up at her brother, smirking. But his gaze was somewhere else. She followed it, catching a pretty brunette smirking at him from across the crowd. "No," she told him, causing him to look down at her. He just smirked and walked away, towards the woman. "Goddammit Brian."

She wasn't going to lie to herself and say that she was fine with her brother sleeping with and/or seeing other women. She really wasn't. Mykie loved the relationship between him and Mia, had high hopes for them. She couldn't see her brother with anyone else.

Sirens sounded and a cop car pulled up. Everyone scattered, running back to their cars. Mykie cursed and ran to the Skyline, jumping inside. Brian sprinted over, quickly getting in and starting the car. They quickly left, a cop following behind them. It followed them for a minute or two before they went around the corner, the cop wrecking into another car.

They turned a corner, Brian laughing, and saw two cars ahead with their lights on. He swerved around the first, but the agent shot an EMP device at them. It hit the car, causing everything inside to start sparking. Mykie shrieked, flinching away from them.

"Shit!" Brian exclaimed, trying to break but the breaks weren't working. They drove onto the sidewalk, slamming into a speedometer and coming to a stop. Brian slammed his hands against the dashboard, cursing again.

More cops arrived, and they crowded around the car with their guns out. "Lemme see your hands! Put 'em up!" The twins put their hands up, pissed off at the situation.

Mykie's door was opened, and she was dragged out of the car. The hand around her bicep was tight, enough force to bruise. She tried jerking away, but the grip just tightened. "Let go, asshole!" She shouted, swinging her fist at him before Brian could tell her not to.

It got him in the jaw, sending him stumbling back from the force. Three different cops ran up to her, two restraining her arms behind her back. They forced her onto the ground, and she groaned, face digging into the pavement. The third cop held her down, and she finally quit moving, focusing on breathing.

Mykie was forced into handcuffs and shoved into the car with Brian. "That shit was way too organized, man." She growled, glaring at him. In the back of her mind, she realized that there was a certain _someone_ she sounded like, but forced it away. "That girl you were checking out looked shady as shit, and out of place for a street race. Bet she ratted us out."

Brian huffed, letting his head fall back. He ignored his twin, tuning her grumbling out.

* * *

Mykie groaned loudly, throwing her head back. Her and Brian were sitting in the interrogation room, which was so stuffy that she couldn't help but feel like her hair was frizzing, with their hands cuffed behind their backs. She almost regretted punching that officer, but it was worth it, even if her back ached from the cop's knee digging into it. A bruise, in the shape of a hand print, was already clear as day on her arm as well.

"Can you really not right now, Mykie?" Brian sighed, looking at her. She looked at him, sticking her tongue out. He shook his head, "I really don't see how you're the older one..."

"I'm only older by, like, two minutes. Doesn't mean I need to be the mature one." She pointed out, jerking her head to flip the hair out of her face.

Two agents walked into the room, one of them carrying a folder. Mykie straightened up in her seat, glaring at them. "So, how long you been in south Florida?"

Brian gave him a vague answer, "A while."

"Before that?" Brian didn't answer, sighing deeply. "We know you're Brian O'Conner, formerly of the LAPD. And Michelle—"

The older twin cut in, "Mykie."

The agent glared at her, ignoring her, "—O'Conner."

"You've got the wrong guys." Brian denied, shaking his head.

The agent raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Agent Bilkins knocked on the glass door with his knuckles, stepping inside. The twins looked at him, faces falling when they recognized who he was. Even if Mykie had never been inside the house back in LA, she'd seen him through the large glass windows. "How you doin' O'Conner? Let's take a walk." Agent Markham tossed him the keys to the handcuffs.

They were uncuffed and led to a different room, which had TVs set up with information on them, all about a man named Carter Verone.

"Looks like a Matthew McConaughey wannabe to me, honestly." Mykie commented before anyone could say anything, resting her chin on her fist. Agent Markham glared at her, but she just shrugged.

"Carter Verone. Born in Argentina, but he's lived most of his life in Miami. Now he owns the biggest import/export business in the state. Unfortunately, the cartels have been successful getting drugs into Miami. But they've had a hard time gettin' the cash out." Agent Markham explained, staring down at the twins. "We've been surveilling him for a year, but we've never been able to put him and the money together. We've swept his house, his warehouses..."

"Nothing." Bilkins cut in. "Customs here has done a great job of getting us this far. I'm just here to help get them over the top."

Markham continued, "I was able to get an agent in undercover, working travel and logistics for him. Recently, Verone put her in charge of finding some new drivers."

"Right. Although we can't confirm her status right now." Bilkins added.

Mykie glanced back at him, "What? You think she's flipped?"

"She's one of mine. She's all right." Markham defended, snappish. Mykie held her hands up, lips twitching from a barely repressed smirk.

"She's been in with Verone nearly a year. Even lives at the compound with him now." Bilkins told the twins, almost smirking. He was about as happy to work with Customs as they were.

"Look, it was the FBI's idea to bring you in here. I'm against it. But we need some good drivers that can put this asshole and his money together. You two are gonna roll with Agent Dunn here." Markham pointed to the agent standing beside him. Mykie looked him over, face clearly displaying that she was less than impressed with the man.

"And if we don't?" Brian questioned.

Bilkins leaned forward, holding out two files. "Well, here's a list of the laws you broke in L.A. Obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting. Plus, there's what your sister did while she was overseas. You know the rap sheet. Now, we can make this all go away in the interest of justice, if you're willing to play ball."

Brian handed Mykie her file, and they started to flip through them. Admittedly, her's was a little thicker than Brian's, especially since her records from Europe were included. "You still need to tell me more about that, y'know." He commented, glancing at her.

Her lips curled back into a grin, "Don't worry, I will. One day." She turned her attention to the two agents in front of them. "So what's the deal? The three of us going to be playin' street racers?"

Markham nodded, "That's right."

"It's not really playing, but okay." She mumbled, and Brian nudged her hard in the ribs. She grunted, but didn't look away from the agents.

The twins exchanged smirks before standing up to greet the agent. "So, Dunn... Looks like we're gonna be partners, bro." They shook his hand, smirks still on their faces.

She gave the man an innocent smile, questioning him. "Could you tell me real quick what would be a better motor for my Chevelle, a Gallo 12 or a Gallo 24?"

Dunn hesitated, "Um... Twenty-four?"

Mykie grinned, teeth bared and absolutely dangerous, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really? I didn't know pizza places made motors." She nodded her head to the cup in his hand.

Brian shook his head, grinning as well. There was enough ice in both of the twin's smiles to send a shiver down the young agent's spine. "See, man, come on. I can't do this. Seriously, if this is what you're gonna give me, I may as well take my chances in Chino."

"We will get someone else," Bilkins assured. Markham roughly grabbed the Gallo's Pizza cup out of Dunn's hand, glaring at him.

"No way, man. The only way I'll do this is if I get to pick the driver." Brian shook his head again.

Bilkins leaned forward in his seat, sighing. "All right, O'Conner, who you got in mind?"

Brian looked at Mykie, eyes lighting up with mischief. "You thinkin' what I'm thinking?" She gave him a small frown, not knowing what he was talking about. He shook his head and continued, "This dude I grew up with in Barstow."

Realization dawned on Mykie, and she grinned, laughing quietly. "Forreal? That's who you're going to pick as the third driver?" Brian just smiled at her, and she shook her head, leaning back in her seat. "Yeah, _that'll_ work out. If he don't kill your ass first."

"And who would the other guy be?" Bilkins questioned.

The twins looked at each other, both grinning. "Roman Pearce," they said in unison.

Being back in Barstow, for the first time in years, felt odd to Mykie. She hadn't been back here since Brian left to go to the police academy in Los Angeles.

The blonde adjusted the cowgirl hat on her head, trying to block the sun out of her eyes. It had been given to her as a gift years ago, from the very same man that they were here to collect, and she had managed to find it just for this.

When they had gotten there, there had been an argument between the twins on who would approach him. Brian wanted to, since he and Rome had shit they needed to work through, but Mykie argued that he'd be more likely to listen if she talked to him first.

Now, Brian was waiting at Roman's trailer, chilling with a six-pack of beer since alcohol always seemed to help convince the man.

The Monte Carlo that Roman was driving rammed into another, sending it into the wall that blocked them from the crowd. The cement barriers moved, almost hitting the people in the front row. People jumped back, cheering loudly.

"Woah! What—" Bilkins shouted, grin wide on his face. "That's your boy in the Monte Carlo?"

Mykie nodded, glancing back at him from her seat on the bench right in front of him. "Yeah, that's him alright. Crazy bastard," she shook her head, turning back to watch. "He's got the skills, a bit bat-shit crazy, but he's the right man for the job."

The agent pulled out his PDA, squinting at it. "He's got quite a record, including three years upstate. Says here he's on house arrest now. Can't go more than 100 yards from his home."

Roman took out the last car before getting out, grinning at the crowd. Mykie stood up and cheered loudly, getting Roman's attention. He looked shocked for a moment, and looked around her for Brian, but didn't see the man anywhere.

"Always said he'd be famous," Mykie commented, smiling and waving at him. "I'm sure he was aiming for somewhere other than Barstow, though."

She jogged down the steps, Bilkins taking his time behind her. Better that Roman didn't immediately connect the two anyways.

Roman grabbed her hands and pulled her up into a tight hug once she was close enough. "Well shit, if it isn't the craziest white girl Barstow's ever seen! How you been, baby girl?"

She hugged him back just as tight, breathing in the familiar smell of Rome's favorite cologne. Fuck, she had missed him. "I've been better, but I'm good now." She pulled back, still smiling, and flicked him on the nose. "Listen, I've got a job offer for 'ya, if you're willing to take it."

He glanced over her shoulder and saw Bilkins standing and waiting. His brows pinched together, but he didn't immediately shut it down, so at least there was that. "This deal legit?" He asked Bilkins, letting the blonde go but keeping an arm around her shoulders.

"That's right, if you do this job for us." Bilkins confirmed. "We'll even clear your record for you and get the monitor off your ankle."

Roman huffed, looking down at Mykie. She was smiling, but there was a touch of discomfort and rage in her eyes that told him just how much she enjoyed being stuck with the job as well. "Is Brian with 'ya?"

Mykie sighed, even though she knew that he would have either asked or seen the blonde eventually. "Yes," Roman opened his mouth, so she hurried to continue, "all you gotta do is work with him for a couple of days, then you're free to do whatever the fuck you want. C'mon, if anything, do it for your freedom back. And me, y'know, but the fucking bracelet around your ankle gettin' cut off is more important."

He pulled her tighter into his side, kissing the top of her head as he watched the agent with narrowed eyes. "Fine. I'll put up with his ass, but don't expect me to stick around afterwards." He had to look away from the sad frown she gave him; if there was one thing he could never say no to, it was the twins' fucking kicked puppy look that they liked to give him.

Bilkins spoke up, breaking the tension between the two. "I thought you couldn't wander more than a hundred yards from your home?"

"Why do you think I'm parked so close to the derby?" Roman threw back and started to lead them towards the trailer. He sneered at Brian, but there wasn't any hateful words spat once the man had offered him a beer.

Mykie glanced at Bilkins, "You get busy calling to get that damned thing off his ankle."

Brian smirked at him. "Shit, knew she was gonna end up being right. There ain't anyone that can say no to her."

Roman grumbled, glaring at him.

"I'll help you pack," Mykie said, following him inside the trailer. He looked like he was going to protest, but she gave him a sharp look that had him agreeing. She shut the door behind them firmly, grimacing when she could still clearly hear Bilkins outside.

"What're you guys doing, baby girl?" Roman asked, grabbing a duffel bag from the small closet at the back of the trailer.

She sighed and took off the hat, running a hand through her hair. "They want us to help take down this drug lord or something. He needs drivers to transfer the cash, and we're auditioning," she kept her voice low, sitting on the mattress so she was out of his way.

"And why the hell would you two agree to that?" Roman hissed back at her, stuffing the first things he grabbed off of his hangers into the bag. They boosted cars and raced in their spare time, spent some deserved time in juvie as kids, but a drug lord was some serious shit.

Mykie scoffed, leaning back on the bed. "'Cause we got records that need cleaned out too, Rome. Shit, mine's about two inches thick of shit I did over the years, I'd love to get that shit gone."

"What the hell did you do?" He frowned at her. She looked away, picking at the sheet under her.

She was hesitant to actually say anything, but she couldn't keep secrets from Rome. Mykie had finally told Brian, so she might as well. "A couple amateur robberies, boosting some cars, undocumented weapons, that kind of shit. I haven't had a fire under my ass yet here cause that was while I was overseas, and no one ever caught me. They know I was in it, though, so the shit's on my record."

Roman stared, eyes wide. "Shit, Mykie, what kind of fuckin' crowd did you get into?"

"The kind that wanted to think they were some tough shit," she shrugged, rubbing idly at the scar on her side. It was a harsh reminder to stay the hell away from those crowds.

They flew back to Miami after Roman packed a bag. Mykie would have much rather preferred to drive back, but that would have taken too long. So she took a sleeping pill before boarding the plane, wanting to be knocked out for the entire flight. There was no doubt that Roman and Brian would get into an argument or two, but at least they couldn't get physical on the plane.

When they got back to the US Customs building, Mykie jumped out and stretched. Being stuck in a car full of men was giving her a testosterone overload, not to mention the heavy tension in the air from Roman and Brian. Roman didn't actively look like he wanted to kill Brian anymore, but that was only a small improvement.

"Next time," she started, pointing at Brian and Bilkins, "I'm taking my own damn car."

She started walking off before anyone could say anything, idly adjusting the cowgirl hat on the top of her head. Brian and Roman glanced at each other before following her inside.

* * *

 **you know, you'd think i would know by now to stop looking at the stats on this story. it's very disheartening to see that while almost 1k people have read the first chapter, only about 370 actually bothered to go to the second. makes me want to rewrite the first chapter, because obviously something is putting them off, but eh. and seriously, thanks to everyone that's left a nice review and that's favorited/followed. i'll probably say that every chapter, but really, i mean it. you guys are the best.**

 **anyways, sorry this is a week late. i had a big depression drop that put me in the mood to not to anything writing-wise and spent most of my time either sleeping or playing Horizon: Zero Dawn. feel free to freakout over PMs about it with me if you've played it! it's so damn good.**

 **don't forget to tell me what you think of this chapter! love it? hate it? let me know!**


	10. I'm Just Here (to become the best yet)

**my longest chapter since the first one. hella. also, you're about to meet some more OCs, but there's only two that actually have a big(ish) part to the story. definitely not as important as Vix or Ray, who you'll see later on in the story *finger guns***

 **anyways, enjoy and be sure to tell me what you think!**

* * *

 _She hadn't felt this nervous in a while. Mykie swallowed, grip tight around the pistol in her hand. Her finger was nowhere near the trigger, and she desperately hoped that she wouldn't have to actually pull it anytime during this job._

" _What's got your panties in a bunch?" Keys questioned, something odd in his voice that immediately had her on edge. She pushed it down, refusing to show anything outwardly about how nervous she was._

 _There was only one way to leave the small crew she had gotten stuck in, and according to them, that was in a body bag. That was nowhere in the plan for her, so she had gone to someone that would give her the help she needed. If she turned in her crew, she'd have her record cleared and be scot-free. She doubted it'd really work, but anything to get them off her back._

 _Roads, who was over six foot tall of pure muscle, was glaring at her. That wasn't new, so she ignored it as best as she could as she checked her watch._

 _The cops were supposed to show up before they went on with the job, and they were nowhere to be seen with five minutes before it all went down._

" _They won't be here anytime soon," Twist said, picking at her nails in a bored manner. She glanced up, watching as every muscle in the blonde's body tensed. "Keys hacked the cameras when you surrendered yourself and struck the deal. I thought we were friends, Zip?"_

 _The way she said it had Mykie's skin crawling. She struggled to come up with the words, glancing at Mona, who had been her closest friend since she joined. The woman had known that she was trying to get out, so she didn't look surprised to hear about Mykie's betrayal._

" _I—" she took in the surrounding area, the possible exits, who was closest to her. Keys was. While he was the best in the group, he was the lankiest and one with the least muscle on him. She grabbed him, yanking him to her chest and placing the tip of the gun against his head. "Let me leave and I won't put a bullet through his skull."_

 _Twist scoffed, but her hand had gone to grab her own gun. "You're bluffing. Not once since you joined us have you actually_ killed _someone."_

 _Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Roads stepping closer, fists clenched at his side. She tensed, finger hovering over the trigger as the barrel started to stray from the side of Keys' head. She knew, you shouldn't have your finger on the trigger unless you were absolutely sure you were going to shoot, but shit, she was desperate._

 _Before anything could happen, Roads suddenly dropped, a clean bullet hole through the center of his forehead._

Mykie was torn out of the memory when a delivery truck backed into the warehouse, jumping at the loud bang as the main doors were shut. Her heart was pounding, and her hands were clammy as she felt a spike of fear shoot through her. She forced it down, crossing her arms over her chest.

Brian looked at her, brows furrowed, but she just shook her head.

The door to the back of the truck opened and the woman from the night before was revealed.

Mykie sighed and rolled her eyes, arms dropping to her sides. "Figures it'd be her," she grumbled.

"Brian O'Conner, Michelle O'Conner, Roman Pearce, meet Monica Fuentes." Markham introduced, ignoring the older twin's cry of, "It's _Mykie_!"

Monica jumped down from the truck, barely glancing at the trio. "Do they have background on Verone?"

"They've been briefed."

"Good. Here's the deal," Monica started to explain. "Verone's looking for drivers. I've arranged for the three of you to join up and work for him. I've also hired some thugs, to you know, make it legit."

Mykie frowned, staring up at the woman with a glare. "When do we start?"

Monica turned her gaze to the blonde, studying her and looking none too impressed. Mykie sneered at her.

"Right now."

"What are we driving?" Roman questioned. He shifted from foot to foot, looking between Mykie and the agent in confusion.

Markham gestured behind them, and they all turned around to look.

The three cars were unveiled, and the three grinned. Obviously they were taken from racers, if the paint jobs were anything to go off of, and they were all itching to take a look under the hood.

For the twins, they almost looked familiar, something that had raced at one of Tej's before they even got started for the night.

"Oh hell yeah," Mykie commented, stepping up to run her hand over the hood of the black '91 Stealth. She opened the door and laughed loudly when she saw that it was a lambo, startling the few agents hanging around. "I love whoever had this before," she gushed, reaching down to pop the hood.

Roman walked up to a purple Spyder, tossing his bag into the back. "Don't even think about takin' the convertible. It might loosen your mousse," he teased Brian, watching the blonde walk over to the Evo.

"No, that's cool. That's too much chrome for me anyways," he grinned, crossing his arms as he leaned against the side of the car.

At the mention of chrome, Roman went to look at the rims on the tires. "Damn! Where you all confiscate these rims from, man?"

Mykie laughed at him, glancing at him from where she was bent over to take a look inside of her Stealth. With the amount of mods in it, she'd bet that it could beat the Skyline even if Brian was driving it. The work was familiar, and she could barely hold back the snort as she recognized Jimmy's touch to it.

Monica and Markham exchanged a few words before everyone was ready to go. "I'll ride with you, cowboy," she told Brian, opening the passenger door.

Immediately, Roman was complaining. He had been eyeing her since she hopped out of the truck, but it seemed she only had eyes for Brian. Of course. "Why she gotta ride with you?"

Mykie rolled her eyes while answering him, "You get the convertible. Let's get this over with already." She closed the hood, already excited to take a closer look at the computer work later with Jimmy. She doubted that Customs had left it alone, and wondered just how much tracking it was running.

They tore ass out of the Custom's building, with Brian in the lead, and Mykie stayed next to Roman as they drove behind him.

She had her radio on, the volume up at its maximum. The bass system was amazing in the car, her seat vibrating under her. She rolled down the windows, grinning at Roman while she danced in her seat. Her singing along was just a touch over obnoxious, if only to get a laugh out of the man.

In front of them, Brian suddenly sped up, leaving the two behind.

"What are you doin', Brian?" Roman questioned, shifting gears and speeding up as well.

Mykie followed easily, pulling up on Roman's right and stopping at the red light. "He did the 'stare and drive' on you, didn't he?" She scowled, roughly jerking her thumb to point behind her at Rome from where she was twisted in her seat to look at them. "He got that from him."

Roman scowled and ran the red light, signaling for Mykie to do the same.

Brian and Monica looked at her, but she just shrugged and followed. She ignored how the other woman had been laughing when they'd pulled up, because as much as she still wished he and Mia were together still, anything would be better than an agent. They were meant to be done with the law.

It was another few minutes before they made it to where they were meant to be. She didn't know where Monica had disappeared off to, but she knew that she didn't really care.

Mykie took her cowgirl hat off and tossed it aside before stepping out, ignoring the catcalls from the other racers. She looked at her brothers and rolled her eyes.

"Hey doll face, why not come over and hang out with us?" One of the racers called out, smirking at her as his friend made kissy faces at her.

Mykie arched a brow, eyes cold as ice as she stared at him from across the yard. "I will, as soon as you get a dick bigger than the size of my pinky."

The other racers oh'ed and laughed. The racer glared at her, flipping her off. "Bitch."

Mykie just smiled and pretended to blow him a kiss, smoothly switching to flipping him off as she took her hand away from her mouth. "Fuck you too, Fabio."

His friend decided to try his luck with the other two, calling out to Roman and Brian with a mocking grin on his face. "Hey, where did you get them cars, the bottom of a cereal box?"

Roman gave him a thumbs up, sarcastic smile on his face. "Eh! Real funny, Fonzie." His smile dropped, and he grumbled. "Ass."

Mykie patted him on the arm, smirking at the line of men across from them. They were trying to be intimidating, but it wasn't working. The only thing that mattered in this audition was how good of a driver you were, not how badass you tried to look.

Two men stepped out of the gates and one whistled sharply, gesturing for the racers to come in. They started walking, the trio standing side by side.

Brian looked between the two, trying to appear casual but there was a tenseness in his shoulders that Mykie could see. "Let's keep your mouths shut and follow my lead, alright?"

Mykie crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at her twin. "O 'ye of little faith, brother." She teased, giving him a crooked grin. He rolled her eyes, shoving her shoulder lightly.

Roman glowered, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "I got this."

"No, I'm serious now."

"Handle your business. I'll handle mine." Roman said lowly, fists clenched.

They were the last ones to get patted down. Roman made a snappish comment, telling the man to watch his hands when he got too close up on the thighs.

One of the men moved from Brian to Mykie, patting her down as well. More like felt her up, honestly. She glared at him and stomped on his foot when he grabbed at her ass with smirk. He grunted, stepping back and glaring at her.

The men from the gates stared hard at the trio, lips curled back. "Get in line." One ordered, the other snapping his fingers at them.

Mykie held back a scowl, stomping her way over to the rest of the group. They were led down a stone path, Roman and Brian flanking behind Mykie as the other racers tried to box them in.

Monica and Verone stepped out of the house, gaining everyone's attention. "Thank you for coming on such short notice," he started. "My red Ferrari was confiscated yesterday, and it sits in an impound lot in Little Haiti."

Mykie arched a brow, but didn't comment. Were they supposed to take back the car?

"The car isn't important. What is important is the package I left in the glove box. The first team back here with the package will have an opportunity to work for me."

"What, we gotta audition?" One of the racers snapped.

Verone barely spared the man a glance. "Nobody's got a gun to your head. That's it."

Monica held her hands out, addressing the group. "Driver's licenses. Pass 'em up." Mykie frowned and pulled out her wallet, passing up her license. "Before Christmas, guys."

One of the guards waved them off. "Go!"

They took off running, Mykie managing to get the lead from how small and agile she was. She all but dove into her car, pulling the keys out and starting it. They tore out of the yard, engines roaring loudly all around her.

Mykie, Brian, and Roman were in the front when they hit the highway. Brian, of course, was in the lead, with his sister right behind him, Roman behind her.

She reached over with a hand and flipped through the radio, trying to find a good station to listen to while driving. She settled on one, hand moving back to the wheel quick enough to jerk it so she could drive around a semi. "Shit!"

They swerved around traffic, the older blonde managing to do it more smoothly than the boys. Brian's nerves had to have been shot from suddenly pulled back into a case, otherwise he'd be driving a helluva lot better than he was now.

Even with months spent as the getaway driver for her old crew, really honing in her skills to weave in and out of traffic, Brian would still be the better driver than her.

Roman shifted gears and got side by side with the twins, right between them. He gave Brian the bird, face hard.

The twins laughed at him as they let him in front, squeezing between two semis.

"Smartass." Brian chuckled, getting in front of Mykie.

In the rearview, she saw one of the racers get stuck between the semis, smacking back and forth into their wheels as he struggled to gain control. Quickly, he was forced in front of the back tires on one, eventually going under.

She flinched, turning her attention back to the road. There's the first casualty. She doubted it'd be the last.

Brian sped ahead of Roman suddenly, jerking his car around into a 180 and driving backwards. He held his hand out of the window, flipping Roman off.

Mykie laughed, shifting gears and speeding passed both men as she used their antics to her advantage. As she passed Brian, she briefly heard him shout, "Oh shit!" as they approached the exit.

He spun back around, quickly gaining up on her. He tried to get passed her, but she swerved and blocked him every time.

"Ain't gonna pass me, bitch," she teased, despite him not being able to hear her. She reached out of the window and flipped him off, jerking the car again when she predicted him trying to get around her again.

They got to the boat docks and went around, trying to look for the cars. "C'mon, man..." She trailed off, going under a boat that someone was unloading. Brian followed behind her, Roman swerving around it once it got too low.

They took a few turns before coming up to the impound lot. She grinned, slamming on the brakes and barely remembering to put it in park before she was jumping out.

Roman took his shirt off and wrapped it around his fist. He smashed the window, glass flying everywhere.

Mykie blinked at him, and, without taking her eyes off of him, reached over and pulled the door handle. It was unlocked.

"That was totally unnecessary," she informed him, climbing into the driver's seat. Glass dug into the back of her thighs, making her regret wearing shorts, but she ignored it and started looking for the _special package_.

"Look in the center." Roman told her, and she turned around, pulling the center open. Inside was an orange package. She grinned and took it out, holding it out for the boys to see.

"Hell yeah." She got out of the car, carefully brushing the pieces of glass from her legs.

Brian smirked, nudging Roman's shoulder. "Put your blouse back on and let's go, Rome."

He barked out a sarcastic laugh, unwinding his shirt from around his fist. Mykie just smiled at him and tucked the package into the back of her shorts. "Hater," he grumbled at Brian, pulling his shirt back on.

The three other racers pulled up, stopping in front of them. Mykie cursed, hand going to hover over the package. No way could they risk them getting it and ruining the whole operation.

Before anyone could make a move, the feds showed up. Squinting, Mykie saw that it was Markham and Dunn. She grit her teeth, stepping towards her car to make a quick getaway. What the hell were they doing here?! Were they trying to get their cover blown?

"Roman, no!" Brian shouted and Mykie jumped as shots were fired behind her, aimed at the agents.

"What the fuck, Roman?!" She shouted, getting into her car. She got no reply as the man jumped into his car.

The three took off, leaving the other racers behind.

Back at Verone's home, they were running background checks on everyone. Roman's profile was the first on screen. "What do we got?" Carter mumbled to himself as he scanned the file; nothing major besides serving three years for possession of illegal cars. "That's good. Show me his partners."

Monica pulled up Brian's file. "Juvie record for popping cars. Two years in J.D., then another year for aiding and abetting an armed robbery. He's clean. Dirty, but clean." She informed him.

"And the girl?"

Mykie's profile was pulled up, looking a little longer and much more detailed than the two men's. "Juvie record for popping cars as well. Grand theft auto, three accounts of assault -two against police officers-, illegal possession of undocumented firearms, aiding and abetting three armed robbery… She's definitely more trouble than the other two."

Verone hummed in thought, eyes narrowed at the screen. "Interesting..."

The trio pulled up to the mansion, stepping out of their cars. Verone and Monica were outside, already waiting for them.

Mykie was in front, pulling the package out of her back pocket. She held it out to Verone, leveling him with a hard stare. Brian flanked her, Roman staying behind and leaning against his car.

Verone stared at her for a moment before silently taking the package with a smirk. It only widened when he noticed the shiver she couldn't completely suppress.

"Hey, man, you got somethin' to eat up in there? We hungry," Roman drawled, arms crossed over his chest.

Mykie couldn't resist making a comment. "You're always hungry, Rome. Got a bottomless pit in your stomach."

Verone hummed, turning on his heel. He put a hand on Monica's arm, looking down at her. "Sit 'em by the pool," he said, before walking away.

Monica frowned at the trio, unamused. "Nice. Come on." She sharply turned on her heel and started leading the way.

Mykie glanced back at the two men and shrugged, following behind the woman.

Beside her, she heard her twin let out an appreciative hum. Both her and Roman glanced at him, the former rolling her eyes as she caught his gaze firmly on Monica's ass.

"What you checking her out for?" Roman snapped, keeping his voice low.

Brian looked at him, immediately denying it. "I'm not checking her out."

Mykie snorted, slipping her hands inside her pockets. "That's the biggest load of bullshit I've heard come out of your mouth in a while." He glared at her, but she just stared back at him blankly.

They were led to a table, waiting for the others to arrive before sitting down. "Yes, you were." Roman said quietly, still not done with the subject.

Brian crossed his arms over his chest. "No I wasn't."

"I seen you checkin' her out, man."

"Okay, I was. Now shut up."

"You shut up. _Don't_ tell me to shut up."

Mykie looked up at the sky with a sigh, wondering just how she got stuck with these two idiots.

Monica walked up, looking at the three. The older twin just looked outright done with the two men, bringing an amused smile out of her. "Both you girlies shut up. Unbelievable." She sat down in the chair next to Mykie's, across from the boys.

"This is what I had to deal with for years growing up," Mykie told her, sitting down as well. "You'd think after so many, I'd learn how to deal with their bullshit." She grinned, ignoring the men's cries of outrage

Monica smirked at her, raising her glass and taking a sip. She'd just picked up a grape when Roman decided to make a comment.

"You sure are cozy in this big ol' mansion. Sleepin' with the enemy."

Monica just continued smiling, looking over as Verone approached.

Mykie kicked him harshly under the table, giving him a sharp glare before schooling her expression. She leaned over, smiling at Verone as he got closer. "Is he at least good in bed?" She whispered, smile widening when the other woman gave a small nod. She laughed, leaning back in her chair.

"No, no. Sit down." Verone commanded when Brian started to get up.

The blonde sat back down in his chair, watching the man. "Nice Ferrari you got in the driveway," Brian complemented, gesturing with his hand.

Verone smiled and grabbed the package from the table. "I'm glad you like it." He opened the package, dumping its contents out. Mykie's smile fell, catching what was inside. Verone opened the cigar holder, pulling the cigar out with his teeth.

She couldn't help but snap at him, "We did all that for a damn cigar?"

"No," the man shook his head, pulling the cigar from between his teeth. He pointed at the trio, face stern. "You did all that for a job. Do you really think that I would let somebody impound my car?" He questioned, but none of them answered. "The boat yard's mine. Oh, by the way, you three owe me a gate. I'll just take it off your cut."

Roman barked out a laugh. "Off our cut..."

"Yeah." Verone stared at him, causing the man to look away.

"I like that."

"Good."

Mykie sighed, pulling a grape off of the vine and throwing it into her mouth. "What's this job you got for us, anyway?" She questioned, picking up her glass of water.

Verone jerked his chin up, starting to stand up. "Come with me."

She blinked at him, watching everyone else stand up. She slowly stood as well, reaching over and snapping off a vine of grapes. Roman and Brian stared at her. "What? I'm hungry." Brian sighed, but she ignored him.

Verone cracked a smirk, gesturing with his hand for them to follow him.

"The house has ears in it," he explained once they'd gotten to the stone path. "I have something I want you to carry from North Beach to the Keys."

"Okay," Mykie said, the same time Brian questioned what that 'something' was. She glared at his back, wishing he would shut up. Being that nosy could get you shot. A driver for cartels is just that, a driver. Doesn't matter what's inside, you just get it to the boss and hope not to die in the process.

"Just put in the car what I tell you to, drive it to me and don't let anyone stop you, understand?" Verone told him, glancing at the blonde.

Mykie spoke up from her spot next to Roman, "Yeah. Any chance of cop trouble?"

"No. I'm buying you a window of time, but it's not gonna be open very long." Mykie wondered how he got the window in the first place. "You make it, and I'll personally hand you 100Gs at the finish line."

"Make it 100Gs a piece, _papi_." Roman just had to open his mouth. Feeling the three's stares on him, he continued. "Look, man, obviously, your pockets ain't nervous." He reached forward, patting Verone's pocket.

The man hit his hand away, glaring at him. "Hey, hey! Don't ever touch me," he threatened, pointing a finger at Roman.

Roman stole a grape from Mykie, smirking at Verone. "Ours are empty. Like I said, we hungry."

Mykie put her hand on her forehead, looking up. "Jesus Christ," she mumbled, silently cursing Roman's stupidity. She sighed and dropped her hand as Verone turned around to look at them.

"I got an idea." He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Mykie shifted, half not wanting to know what the idea was. "Why don't you three join us at the club a little later tonight?"

Monica smiled, "Yeah. Pearl at midnight?" she suggested.

"We'll get to know each other a little better."

Mykie really didn't like the smile on his face. "Alright, sounds good." She answered for them.

Verone held his hand out, Brian shaking it firmly. Roman and her just turned on their heels, starting to walk away.

"Hey, you!" Verone suddenly called out, stopping the trio. The twins turned around to look at him. "Your pockets aren't empty." Roman cursed lowly. "I'll take my cutter back."

Mykie and Brian frowned, not knowing what he was talking about. But it was quickly answered when Roman stepped passed them to walk back to the man.

"Idiot." Mykie sighed, shaking her head.

"Stupid ass." Brian mumbled, throwing his arm around his sister's shoulders.

Roman took the cutter out of his pocket, holding it out. "Hey, man, I figured you had, like, twelve or thirteen..."

Verone snatched it out of his hands. "You're not too bright, are you? Just get out of here."

They walked away, going back to where they'd parked their cars. Mykie was trailing behind them, watching her brother wrap Roman in a headlock. "Same old Rome, doin' the same old stupid shit," he snapped. Roman threw his arm off from around him, grumbling. "What, runnin' your mouth? Insultin' people? Stealin' Verone's shit?"

"Think I'm gonna let somebody stare me down?" Roman snapped back. "I didn't let nobody stare me down in jail, homeboy. Think I'm gonna let it fly on a beach? ' _And you, I'll take my cutter back._ '" He mocked Verone, lips curled back. "His rich ass."

"And you're packin'!" Brian snapped, hitting his chest.

"Like you two ain't!" Brian didn't say a word. "Exactly." Mykie looked at him, wondering how he knew that she was. "What, baby girl, didn't think I'd noticed the knife you got in your boots?" She smirked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Gotta protect myself somehow, Rome," she replied, holding her hands up.

Brian looked back at the two as he got to his car. "From here on out, I do the talkin'. You two can't do this job for shit."

"Looks like you wanna do a little more than that." Roman commented, opening the door to his car.

Brian glared at him over the roof of his car. "Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?"

Mykie shook her head, leveling her brother with a glare of her own. "Please, Bri. We all noticed how you looked at Monica. It means you always gettin' in trouble over a girl." She violently pulled open the door to her car, ready to get in. "It's obvious you have a thing for pretty brunettes." She snapped.

Brian glared at her and got into his car, slamming the door shut.

She followed, starting the car before the door was even fully shut. She sped off ahead of them, throwing up dust everywhere as her tires spun out.

They pulled up to Tej's Garage, parking and getting out. Mykie still felt a little irritation towards her brother, but her guilt over-weighed that. Mia was a low blow, and she knew it.

Sighing, she grabbed Brian's hand as soon as she was next to him, peering up at him from under the cowgirl hat that she had slipped back on during the drive over. "Sorry about saying the thing," she mumbled, looking down.

Brian wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "S'okay, Mykie."

"Man, what is this place?" Roman asked, looking around in awe.

Brian turned his attention to Roman, grinning. "Man, Tej's garage is ridiculous. He's got the best of everything. Snap-on tools. All these lifts are brand-new. They're only maybe a couple months old." They walked up to Jimmy, shaking hands. "Hey, yo, Jimmy."

Mykie smiled at the man, pulling him into a short hug. "What's up, man?"

"What up, Bulitt, Zip?" Jimmy greeted, hugging her back before pulling away to look at the other two.

Brian pointed to Roman, "That's Rome right there. When you get a second, I want you to check out the Evo, the Stealth, and the Spyder and make sure everything's copacetic."

Jimmy grinned. "Evo? Where'd you get an Evo from?"

Mykie shook her head, laughing quietly. "It's a _long_ ass story, Jimmy."

"I got you, man." She nodded and clapped him on the shoulder, letting Brian drag her further into the garage.

"It's so hot and humid out here, I can't even wear no drawers." Roman complained, causing Mykie to roll her eyes.

"Tell me about it," Brian grinned, nodding in agreement.

"Look at all this potential out here." Roman commented. Tej was having one of his water race's, people on jet skis racing around. Women were dancing, some playing around in the kiddy pools.

Mykie shook her head and pulled herself out of Brian's grip, walking up to stand behind Suki's chair.

"Hey, doll face." She wrapped her arms around her neck, leaning over the chair and pulling her into a short kiss. Despite the constant flirting between her and Tej, and the not-really-but-really dating between the two, she liked to share a kiss or two with her friends. "How you doin'?"

"What's up, Mykie?" Suki grinned, looking up from the sketchbook in her lap.

"Showing an old friend around," the blonde answered, running her hand through the woman's hair. "Tej been distracting himself all damn day since we ditched?"

Ever since Tej found out why her and Brian were on the run, he had been protective of the two. They didn't need to worry about the cops when it came to racing; Tej had enough from his years on the circuit, invested in things like the garage and renting out the boat houses, and tipped off the Miami PD to stay away from them as long as they weren't a danger to anyone else on the roads. It was why they used road blockers when they raced, and why there hasn't even been so much as a patrol cop around when they hit it off.

Suki sighed, setting her pencil down to focus on Mykie. She leaned into the blonde's hand, which was still petting her. "Yeah. He's been worried, especially since neither of you two know how to answer your damn phones."

"Mine was left in the garage," Mykie pointed out. "And Brian's got fried last night when we got caught up in some shit."

"What kind of shit?" Suki frowned. "You know we'll help out however we can."

Mykie leaned down, pressing a kiss to the woman's forehead. "Thanks for the offer, baby girl, but I'd like to keep you guys as far away from it as possible." There was no chance in hell she'd get them caught up in Verone's web.

Brian and Roman walked up to meet everyone else once they were done talking. Tej was shouting into a megaphone, hollering at the racers.

"Hey, Tej Parker, Roman Pearce. I've known this dude since we were kids, man." Brian introduced. The two men bumped fists. "And Rome, Tej is the man to know in Miami. He's got his finger in absolutely everything."

Mykie made a face. "Bri, don't say that again. You made it sound weird." Brian rolled his eyes, ignoring the comment. She turned, fake coughing into her fist. "Especially with the shit y'all have gotten into."

He leaned down, pulling Suki into a short hug. He glared at Mykie over her shoulder. "We agreed not to talk about that again, like ever." They had gotten _way_ too drunk, and Brian was pretty enough for Tej to start flirting, especially since he was starting to grow his hair out.

"What's goin' on, Suki?" He asked, pulling away to look at the sketchpad in her lap.

Suki smiled up at him. "What's up, baby?"

He gestured to the drawing. "What's this? Whose car is it going on?"

Suki flipped it around so he could see it right side up. "It's a work in progress, so it's not finished yet."

Roman whistled from where he had been creeping on the conversation, peeking over Brian's shoulder. "Shit, girl, you got some skills."

She smiled at him, and they started to get into it. Suki flipped the pages of the book, showing him her other work.

Mykie slipped away to go talk to Tej, who was sitting down to watch the second jet-ski race. She wrapped her arms around him from behind similar to Suki, but he was bold enough to pull her around and into his lap. She laughed, carefully avoiding his bad leg. "Sorry we didn't get in touch for the last two days, shit happened."

"Shit always seems to happen around you two," Tej complained, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I just need to fuckin' chip you two at this point."

They got a few looks, since it'd take a newcomer to not know about the thing between him and Suki, but eventually people went back to their own business.

Mykie actually considered it for a second. "Honestly? It'd probably come in handy."

Tej shook his head, laughing at her as he nudged her in the ribs. "Shit, no. I'm not gonna chip you like a bunch of dogs."

"I mean, I can be pretty _bitchy_ ," she joked, grinning when he started to laugh loudly. "And Brian is basically a golden retriever when he's happy, let's be real."

It was a few minutes later, after they'd talked and gotten Roman a place to stay, that they went back to talk to Jimmy. All three hoods of the cars were popped up, leaving the engines out on display.

"What's up, Jimmy? So you ever seen anything like this before?" Brian asked, gesturing to his car.

Jimmy shook his head. "Nah. All three of them are wired up like I never seen before." He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mykie shifted, standing up straighter. "Dammit," she cursed, because of course she had to be right.

Brian groaned as it dawned on him. "They got us wired with GPS. That's why Markham knew we were gonna be at that impound lot."

They walked over to Roman's car, where Jimmy had gone to search, bent overlooking inside.

"Shit, Jimmy," Mykie shook her head with a huff. "You're the best when it comes to this, any chance you could take this shit out?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I'll try, but this ain't LoJack. The DIS Box, the engine management system, hell, the main harness... The GPS is spidered into all of that." He looked at Mykie, brows furrowed. "Is Nadia still in town? Maybe she could help." She was young, but getting pretty damn close to Jimmy's level when it came to a car. Plus, a second perspective wouldn't hurt.

Tej and Suki walked up, looking at the cars. "Hey, tell me somethin', man," Tej started to say. "Where the hell is the Skyline? Or where the hell have you two been for the last two days?" Neither of the twins answered him. "Or where these rides even came from?"

"Not really," Mykie answered, face twisting up.

"They're hot." Suki complimented, grinning and leaning to take a look inside the Spyder.

Jimmy spoke up, scowling at the cars. "Yeah, they're hot alright. They wired so hot that whoever's trackin' these things will know every time you don't wear your seat belt."

Everyone looked at the twins, wondering what they would do about it. The blondes looked at each other, having their own silent conversation. Mykie raised an eyebrow up at her brother, and he gave a small nod before turning back to the group. "Alright, Jimmy, just do what you can do, bro."

The man nodded, "I got you."

"Thanks, Jimmy." Mykie told him, giving him a smile. "I'll call up Nadia, try and see where she's at."

As the trio from Barstow were walking away, Mykie heard Tej comment on the cars. "Man, we need to get these on the street as soon as possible."

She shook her head, a small smile on her face. At least he had a couple of cars to focus on so he wouldn't worry about the twins.

Brian stopped, looking at Roman. "Hey, bro, check it out. You see that Cadillac across the street over there?"

Mykie glanced over and saw the car her brother was talking about. Verone's goons were sitting inside.

"Yeah," Roman said and Mykie nodded in agreement.

"They've been on us since we left Verone's house." Brian informed the two.

Mykie grinned and looked up at the two. "I got an idea..."

She approached the car a few minutes later, plastic spray bottle full of 99% alcohol and rag in hand. She smiled at the two inside, plastering on every bit of charm she had. "I'mma just clean your windows, okay babes?" Mykie started spraying the windshield, bending over and doing a half assed job of wiping it off.

"What the hell are you doing?" The driver demanded, and the two started to get out of the car.

Mykie's smile fell, and she took a step back, twisting the cap off and tossing it onto the hood. She pulled a lighter out of her pocket, snarling at the two. "Kiss my ass, _putos_." She snapped, tossing the lighter onto the windshield.

It immediately burst into flames, the alcohol catching fire. She turned on her heel and ran to the street, where Brian was pulling up in the Evo. She pulled open the door and jumped in, Brian taking off before she even finished fully closing the door.

"That was awesome, baby girl!" Roman laughed, turning around in his seat to look at her.

She grinned, leaning back in her seat. "They'll be occupied for a while. Let's go, Bri."

* * *

 **ahhhh i'm so hype for the next chapter that you get two in the same week again. gotta rewrite a _lot_ , same way i did this chapter when moving it to the doc manager, but i am excite. i have at least up until chapter eighteen done for the most part, but i finally figured out the ending to this and have to go back and rework some stuff. updates may take longer because of that.**

 **don't forget to tell me what you thought! i might not reply, but i love every review dearly. also, don't be afraid to ask about mykie or anything like that while you're at it. i want to gush about it as much as you want to know!**


	11. Nowhere To Run From All This Havoc

The ride to the closed down restaurant that the feds were using as a base was silent. The only thing to fill the void was the radio, and any other time, they would have been jamming. This wasn't any other time.

"He's gonna blow our cover before we even get started," Roman grumbled as they were walking inside. Mykie nodded in agreement, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, Bilkins, can you tell me what the hell happened out there?" Brian demanded, speaking before any of the others could get a word in.

"That's what I wanna know." The agent answered, looking up at the trio.

Markham suddenly stepped forward, gun out and aimed at Roman. "Show me your hands!" He demanded, and the man followed orders. "Come on. Keep 'em up!" Dunn came up behind him and started to pat him down.

Roman's lips curled back into a sneer, but he stayed still as the baby agent searched him. "Man, what's this about?"

"What the hell, man?" Mykie demanded, taking a step towards the two. Markham turned the gun on her, and she stopped, holding her hands up.

"Hold this." He tossed the gun to Dunn and stepped towards Roman. He shoved him back roughly, shouting at the man with a snarl. "You think you can shoot at me? I'm a goddamn federal agent!"

They were shoving each other back and forth, and Markham was backing him into the wall.

"Get your damn hands off me, man! Get him away from me!"

The four others shot forward as soon as it started to get into more than just a slap fight. Brian and Bilkins restrained Roman while Mykie stood in front of Markham, pushing him back.

"Just 'cause you wear a badge don't mean you can come in and mess shit up!" Roman shouted, trying to get passed Bilkins.

"Get your hands off of me!" Markham shouted at Mykie as she kept pushing him back as he tried to get at Rome again. His hands were flying everywhere, trying to push her away without really hitting her. She dodged a hit that would have caught her in the face, stumbling back into Brian.

The blonde caught her easily, righted her, then immediately pounced on the agent. "Don't fucking touch her again!" Brian shouted, shoving Markham roughly.

"You're lucky I didn't shoot you." Roman shouted, pointing at Markham over Bilkin's shoulder as the man kept him against the wall.

Mykie snapped at him, fed up with the fighting, "Shut up, Roman!"

"Don't tell me to shut up, Mykie!" He snapped right back and she glared at him. He stuttered over his words for a moment before turning back to Markham, quickly getting angry again. "You almost blew our cover, old man!"

Brian took a deep breath and tried to defuse the situation. "You shouldn't have shown up like you did." As much as he tried to calm everyone down, he couldn't help but snap at Markham, "What, you didn't know Verone was testing us?"

"No." Markham spat back at him. "I thought you punks were running."

"Running!" Roman shouted and tried to lunge at the agent again, only to be stopped by Bilkins.

"That's great. That's real great!" Brian pulled out his own gun and held it up, fingers clear of the trigger. "Oh, and if Rome wanted to shoot you, you wouldn't be here right now." He slammed it onto the table, and Bilkins was quick to grab it.

"Alright. We gotta get this under control." Bilkins ordered, tucking the gun into the back of his pants.

Roman was pacing where he stood, fists clenched by his side. He stopped, noticing the bag on the table. He stepped up and grabbed at it.

"Hey, that's mine!" Markham tried to stop him.

"So?" Roman snapped, bag still in hand.

Minutes later and Mykie and Roman were sharing the sandwich that was inside. She took a bite, sitting in the chair beside him.

"So tell me what you know." Bilkins started, breaking the tense silence in the room.

Brian started to explain, seeing as the other two were busy stuffing their faces. "Well, Rome, Mykie, and I will be making a run for Verone. I'm not sure when and where. But he did say he bought us a window... I'm assuming from the local cops."

"I can talk to some guys at the local PD." Dunn offered.

Bilkins shut the suggestion down immediately, shaking his head. "No, that won't work. If Verone's got some of them on the payroll, then we can't let them know our operation."

Mykie agreed with him, as well as Brian. "Exactly," she said, putting her sandwich down. "Also, Verone told us that he would be waiting at the drop. Like, in person."

"That's good news." Bilkins told her. "If you're gonna be delivering drug money to him, then we can get him for laundering."

Roman spoke up, looking up from his sandwich. "There's only one problem with that."

"What's that?"

Mykie knew where he was going with this, but didn't speak up. She put her elbow on the table, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to hide her smirk.

"Fuentes... Verone's tappin' her."

Bilkins frowned. "Tappin' her? Tappin' her how?"

Mykie wiggled her eyebrows, dropping her hand to display a full-blown grin. "I think you know how she's getting _tapped_ , Bilkins."

"Bullshit!" Markham immediately denied.

Roman snapped at him, shoulders tensing. "What'chu talking about, homeboy? We know what we seen."

Markham turned his attention to Brian. "What do you think, O'Conner? You think she's compromised. You should know."

Mykie sat up, lips curling back into a snarl. "Don't even fuckin' start with that shit, Markham."

Roman looked between the two, confused at what the man was talking about, but ready to defend the two. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Markham continued anyways, ignoring Mykie. "What? You mean your old pal O'Conner didn't tell ya? He flipped on Bilkins in LA. Gave his mark his car keys and let him disappear. That's why he's not a cop anymore."

Mykie glared at him, lips curling down in anger. Bilkins sighed and bowed his head.

"So what do you think, expert?"

Brian's eyes were hard as he stared at Markham, such an icy blue that the agent sat up a little straighter from the intensity behind it. "Man, I don't know," he mumbled.

"Alright." Bilkins said. "We'll keep an eye on her."

The blonde looked back at his twin and friend. "We're out of here."

Nobody argued, so the three stood up and started to make their way out of the building.

"Let your man go, huh?" Roman questioned when they walked outside. Mykie shook her head and walked away from the two, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "What's her problem?"

"Drop it. LA is… not good for either of us, I guess." Brian refused to speak about it.

Roman continued to push, looking away from Mykie. "Drop it? Hell! I wanna hear about this, homey."

"I said forget about it, cuz." Brian sighed.

Catching the look in his eyes, Roman gave a small nod, clapping him on the shoulder.

They got into the car, Mykie silently climbing into the back.

"We got Fuentes in with Verone, Markham tryin' to blow our cover, and we got two wired cars that are no better than that damn ankle bracelet of mine. I'm-a tell you, brah. You let your man Markham do that shit again in front of Verone, that's gonna be our asses." Roman exclaimed, waving his sandwich at Brian.

"I know, man. I know." Brian agreed. "It's gettin' thick real quick, and we may need a way out. We gotta come up with some kind of exit strategy."

"Exit strategy, huh?" Roman questioned.

"Yeah."

Mykie pushed back the negativity starting to creep in from thinking about LA and leaned up between the seats, grinning at the two. "I can help with that."

Roman smiled at her, "I like the sound of that. What'chu got in mind, baby girl?"

She thought for a moment, gaze locked onto the radio as she was lost in thought. "I haven't figured all of it out yet, but I do know something. We're gonna need two more cars."

Tej was able to help them out with setting up the race, given that he basically ran Miami when it came to it.

Later that night, they were meeting up with the two racers from the audition with Verone. Tej, Suki, and Jimmy were with them, having closed off the road, so they could follow through with the first step in Mykie's plan.

"Here they come." Tej said as the two muscle cars drove up, leaning against Suki.

Mykie sat on the bed of Tej's truck, legs crossed. Only Roman and Brian were racing for the cars, since she had her Chevelle that she could finish by the time they needed it. The two racers got out, a woman following both.

Brian and Roman stepped up to them. "Fonzie and Fabio." Rome greeted. "Glad you can join us."

'Fabio' was the one to answer. "We heard you boys wanted to get rid of those CrackerJack toys."

Brian smirked. "No. Actually we just figured those cars you got deserved better drivers, which is why we're gonna take 'em off your hands."

"You know, why don't we settle this now?" Fabio snapped.

Tej stepped up, smirking. "Wait, wait. How about we settle this on the blacktop, huh? Each car does it down and back, tag-team style for slips." He suggested.

Suki looked at Fonzie, "Loser walks home."

Fonzie looked back at her, smirking lightly. "We came to race."

"Well load 'em up, then." Mykie spoke up, leaning back on her hands. They let their girls go, and they walked to stand with her group.

Tej walked between the two cars, Roman and Fabio going first, and started to explain the deal. "Alright. You each got a barrel to go around down at the end of the road. The second wave gotta sit tight till your partner crosses this line right here. First team to go down and back twice wins the race. At which point, the losers will hand over them keys. Otherwise, you'll be eatin' breakfast through straws from now on. _Comprende_?"

"I get it." Fabio snapped.

Tej turned to Roman, giving him the side eye. "Oh, this means you too."

"I get it." He said, looking over at Fabio.

Trusting that the two would win the race, Mykie turned to Suki and started to plan a shopping trip with her. She could only hope that she actually made it out of this job to follow through with it.

Brian and Roman won the two cars, but it was close. Suki drove one, with Tej in the passenger, while Jimmy drove the other back to the garage. Mykie rode with Roman, because rides with him were always fun. The fact that he had the convertible's top down was also a big part of the reason, but she didn't voice that aloud.

They separated to go get ready for meeting Verone at the club.

Minutes before they needed to go, Brian found his twin sitting on the bed. Her gaze was heavy on the shirt clenched in her hands, and he didn't understand what could be so wrong with a simple top.

Roman hovered by the doors, taking in the small boathouse the two shared. It looked more lived in than their home in Barstow had; clothes were scattered everywhere, there were a few books stacked on the coffee table. There was a second bedroom in the back, but there were a pair of both the twins' shoes thrown next to the side of the bed in the front room.

"You good?" Brian asked, frowning at her.

Mykie looked up at him, brows furrowed. She didn't know if telling him what was on her mind would be a good thing, considering who it involved. She looked back down at the shirt, gnawing on her lip. "I, uh… Don't worry about it," she shook her head, slipping the shirt on, "it's stupid."

That couldn't be in, but he didn't want to push her. "If you're sure."

She nodded, knowing that it was for the better that she didn't mention that Mia bought her this shirt one day while they were out shopping. She had been looking at it, up in the front window, every time they passed it, but wasn't sure about buying it. "Seriously, I'm good."

Brian grabbed her hand and hauled her off of the bed. "If you say so. You ready to go?"

The shirt was the last thing she needed to put on, so she nodded. The boys had only put on slightly nicer shirts than they were wearing before, but hadn't changed besides that. She sighed, lips pursed as she set a hand on her hip. Compared to them, she felt overdressed, but also the best dressed.

"I'm driving," she said, snatching the keys out of Brian's pocket and dodging his attempt to grab them back.

"You're wearing heels, though!" Brian argued, following behind her as she strutted towards the car.

Mykie scoffed, glancing back at him over her shoulder. "Like I've never driven in heels before, Bri. You're just too protective of your car, and it's not even the Skyline."

The man pouted, climbing into the passenger seat before Roman could. "Too soon, Mykes." The Skyline had been his baby, and the cops had almost completely destroyed it when they took him in with the EMP-like device they had.

She got them to the club in no time, hyping herself and the boys up with music to try to calm their nerves.

"Hey, how you doin'?" Brian greeted the bouncer as they walked up to the door.

"Good. What you need?"

Mykie answered him, giving the bouncer a smile. "We're guests of Mr. Verone's."

The bouncer nodded and let them into the club.

Inside, music was blaring and there were people dancing. Multiple women dancing on poles, with crowds of men surrounding them and cheering.

"It's an oasis in here, brah." Roman commented, a large grin on his face as he took in the scene before him.

"Yeah. Lots of potential." Brian grinned, repeating Roman's words from earlier. Roman chuckled.

A woman dressed in little clothing walked passed and Roman's grin widened. "Damn. You got a pen?" Brian chuckled and Mykie rolled her eyes. "Phew. It's about to get serious, brah. Look at that girl on the swing right there."

Monica walked up to them, dressed in a pretty dress. Mykie had to stop herself from asking her where she bought it. "Hey. You guys did something right. Verone never socializes with hired help."

"Then what's that make you?" Roman questioned and Mykie snorted, hand going up to try to muffle it. Monica just gave him a look.

"Where's he at?" Brian asked her.

"He's on his way."

She was nice enough, but Mykie still didn't like her. So she made a comment, ignoring the sharp look Brian sent her. "What, you and Verone don't go everywhere together?"

Monica arched a brow at Mykie. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she said innocently. Turning to Roman, she grabbed his arm. "Let's leave these two and go get a drink." He nodded and they left the two alone.

They leaned against the counter, a glass of liquor in their hand now. Rome had whiskey, and Mykie had vodka. "So what's been going on with you, baby girl?" Roman questioned. Mykie sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Bunches of shit, Rome. Bunches of shit." She answered, tipping back her glass.

"Like what?"

She tried to gather her thoughts for a moment, sighing heavily through her nose. "Uh, well. There's the shit that happened in Europe, but I like to just suppress that shit at this point."

Roman frowned, cutting her off before she could continue. "What for? The fuck happened, Mykie?"

Instead of giving a verbal answer, she lifted her shirt to reveal the scar on her side. She watched Roman's face darken as he recognized the kind of scar that it was.

"Who the hell would be shooting at you?" He questioned, and she just knew that if they weren't already six feet under and overseas that Roman would go after them.

Mykie knocked back the rest of her vodka, sliding out of her chair. "They're already dead," all but one, but she refused to worry about that, "so you can't go defend my honor or whatever the hell you wanted to do."

She patted him on the arm and walked away to go to the dance floor. She danced, ignoring the crowd around her and letting the tension roll off of her as she enjoyed the music.

Two bodies pressed against her, one in the front and the other behind her. "Fancy seeing you here, shorty."

She jumped as she immediately recognized the voice to be Vix's, whispered in her ear in such a tone that it sent a shiver down her spine. She hadn't paid attention to the body in the front, but now that she looked, she couldn't help but smile at Ray.

"Thought you'd be taller," she teased, having only talked to her over phone calls.

Ray huffed, but pressed herself closer to the blonde and looped an arm around her neck. "You're wearing heels, fucker." She leaned in close, ignoring how the blonde tensed up under her touch. She lowered her voice, speaking just loud enough to hear over the pounding bass that took over the room. "Didn't think drug cartels were your thing, Mykie."

Mykie huffed, attempting to lean away from her, but she ended up bumping into Vix, who was pressed close against her back. The two were dancing against her, and she had no choice but to follow along, wanting to keep up the appearance that they weren't talking about something as sensitive as Mykie being undercover.

"If you know I'm working with him, you should know that I'm not doing it willingly," she said, grabbing Ray around the waist and hiding her face in her hair. "Customs has us doing this shit, otherwise I'd _probably_ be in jail by now."

Vix nodded, and Mykie felt it more than saw it. "We know, shorty. Don't worry. We've been looking out for you two, got tipped off when you were brought in."

"And how'd you know that we were caught?" She questioned.

"Ray's been—"

The woman in question cut off her girlfriend before she could continue. "I might have made a small program to track anything that pops up about you two? Maybe? Listen, don't worry about the _how_ and just focus on the fact that we're here to help if you need it."

Mykie wanted to ask more about this program that Ray was talking about, but decided it was the least of her problems at the moment. "I don't want to drag you two into this. You guys got enough people after your head, you don't need Verone added onto that."

Vix pushed Ray's arm off of her shoulder and spun Mykie around to face her. The blonde's eyes widened as Vix grabbed her chin and leaned in close, lips nearly brushing against hers. "You don't either, shorty. Let us help, we want to."

She had to swallow past the lump in her throat, because, _fuck_ , she never expected these two to give a shit about her enough to put themselves on the line just to help her out. She glanced away, desperate to not be trapped under Vix's intense gaze, and caught Verone staring hard at someone. Mykie followed where he was looking and curse, slipping out from between the two.

Brian was leaning in far too close to Monica for it to be friendly, and Verone looked none too happy about that.

"Fuck! I'll be back," she said, and started to walk off but Vix's hand wrapped around her arm and stopped her before she could get far. "Vix, seriously, I gotta go."

Her gaze was still intense, and her jaw was clenched from the tension that had suddenly fell upon the group. "Be careful, Mykie. This shit is a lot more dangerous than the crew you ran with in Europe."

Mykie struggled to come up with a good reply, so she just nodded. The older blonde nodded once, a sharp tilt of her head, and let her go.

She caught up with Roman, who had also noticed that Verone was staring pretty hard at Brian.

"He's here, man." Roman told Brian when they got to him and Monica. Monica turned her head, immediately catching her boy's eyes.

"Where's he at?" Brian questioned.

"He's over there, don't look." And Brian looked. Verone raised his glass, staring hard at the group.

A woman approached them, and Mykie subtly checked her out as the other three turned to look at her. "Excuse me? Mister Verone would like for you to join him."

"Let's do it." Monica said and stood up, walking over to him.

Mykie shoved her hands in her pockets, letting out a quiet hiss of, " _Fuuuck_. We're screwed."

They walked to the secluded spot Verone was in, stopping at the red rope. "It's alright, let 'em in." Verone ordered his guards. "Go sit down. I'll talk to you in a second." He told Mykie and Roman, barely sparing the two a glance.

They listened, sitting down on one of the couches.

"How 'ya doin'?" Brian greeted.

Verone answered him, a tight smile on his face. "Good. You enjoying your night?"

"Yeah. I'm havin' a good time."

Verone nodded. "Good, good. She's beautiful, isn't she?" Roman's eyes widened, while Mykie just kept her face passive. She leaned on her elbow, using her hand to hide her frown. "Hmm?"

Brian glanced over at Monica before answering. "Yeah. She's gorgeous."

The two men had a stare down. Verone slowly smirked at him, pointing at him. "You got balls, kid. I can appreciate that. Women are a very powerful force. You see the blonde sitting with the gentleman right here?" He pointed her out for the group. "Five minutes of her time, and she can get anything she wants from him. Watch."

The woman smiled, running her hand through the man's hair. He stood up, following her wherever she went.

Verone chuckled, hands going to rest on his hips. "Hm. I wonder where they're going." He looked at Mykie, sitting down on the couch next to Monica as he stared at the blonde. "So, I heard you lit my man's car on fire, is that right?" He questioned.

Beside her, Roman tensed, but she kept her cool. "Yeah, and?" She looked up at Verone, lips pursed and single brow arched. "I got a problem with authority, y'know?"

Verone smirked and nodded. "I have that same problem. You see, for me, it's cops in particular." Silence fell over the group, Verone looking at every single one of them with a hard look. Nobody said anything. He stood up, patting Monica's knee. "Let's take a walk."

She immediately protested, "We just got here."

Verone held his hand out, waiting for her to take it. "And now we're leaving." She gave an inaudible sigh and accepted his hand, standing up. He looked at the trio. "Let's go."

They stood up, following behind Monica. Verone's two guards held the back, making sure nobody ran off. It was tense as they walked, and Mykie forced herself to stay relaxed. She fidgeted with her hands before shoving them in her pockets again, jaw clenched. Brian looked at her, but didn't comment.

Inside of the room, on the center table, was a blowtorch and a covered bucket. There was a faint, barely audible squeaking coming from the bucket, and Mykie could feel her stomach flip as she got an idea of what it would be used for.

"What's all this?" Roman questioned as the trio came to a stop.

Verone was opening a bottle of champagne. "We're going to have a little fun."

Mykie really doubted that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be fun at all.

The blonde woman and the man from before walked in, caught up in each other. The man looked over, smile dimming. "Hey, Carter." He greeted.

"Meet, uh, Detective Whitworth." Verone introduced. "One of Miami's finest." The woman gave a sharp nod and turned on her heel, walking out of the room. "Thank you, sweetheart," Verone called after her. "Are you enjoying yourself, Detective?"

The man smiled, beginning to get nervous but hiding it well. "Yeah. I was. I mean, you know me."

Verone nodded. "Yeah, I do know you. You been on my payroll a long time." Any light atmosphere was gone.

Mykie shifted, clenching her jaw to try to distract herself from fidgeting. The less that Verone knew she was nervous of him, the better.

"Verone, that ain't right," the man protested.

"Shut up." Verone ordered, pointing a finger at the man. He approached Whitworth, his guards stepping up behind the detective. "I got one last job for you, Detective. You hear me?"

Whitworth put his hands on his hips, trying to keep Verone calm as he attempted to explain. "Look, we've been all through this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I said I can't do it."

Verone stared down at him and chuckled. "Hmm. That's the wrong answer. The table." The guards shot forward, grabbing and restraining the man. They forced him down onto the table, restraints in their hands.

"I'm a detective, Verone! You do anything to me, the whole force is gonna be on your ass in a minute." The detective bit out as the guards wrapped the ties around his wrist, pulling so his arms were out.

Mykie shifted closer to Brian, shoulders tensing up. She could guess what was coming, and it made her sick.

"Shut your mouth! You fat piece of shit." Verone cut open the front of the detective's shirt, leaving his stomach uncovered.

Verone took the lid off of the bucket and reached inside.

"You can stop right now. What the hell... What the hell is that?" The man questioned when Verone pulled out a rat by its tail.

"Sit down." He ordered the trio and they complied. The rat was squirming and squeaking up a storm, but Verone had a solid grip on it.

The detective hissed at Verone, "You're gonna regret this. Just stop right now!"

Verone ignored his threats. "Once the bucket gets hot enough, Detective, the rat is gonna want out." He put the rat on the man's stomach, covering it with the bucket. The man's eyes went wide with fear. "And the only direction it can go is south." One of the guards held the bucket down, a thick glove on his hand to protect it from the heat.

"Get it off me!" The detective cried. "I'll forget it ever happened."

Verone lit the torch. "Shut up." He held it to the bucket, moving it around slowly. "Did you know that your average rat can chew through a steel drain pipe? You see, you have nothing to worry about when he's screaming, Detective. It's when he goes quiet," the rat did exactly that, making the man panic even worse, "that he goes to work."

The detective was hollering, crying, for Verone to stop. Mykie swallowed, reaching and grasping Brian's hand tightly. Roman was fidgeting next to her, the most visibly freaked out of the trio, so she reached up with her free hand and gripped a part of his sleeve. He tensed, but otherwise stopped moving.

Verone pulled back the torch, holding it close to the detective's face. "You're in charge of the units that are watching my properties, huh? What I want is a fifteen-minute window where everybody, and I mean _everybody_ , disappears. You hear me?"

The detective threw his head back, eyes closed tightly. "I can't do it! Stop it. I can't do it. Help!"

Verone chuckled, causing Mykie's lips to curl back in disgust. She averted her eyes from the scene in front of her, staring hard at one of the guard's shoes. She desperately hoped they were able to put this fucker behind bars once this was all over.

"Okay. Monica, come here. Shut him up." The woman hesitated before standing. The man was screaming now, calling for help that wouldn't come. Verone lit the torch again and held it to the bucket. "Shut him up."

Monica knelt down in front of Mykie and put her hands over the detective's mouth, muffling his screams. Roman shifted away from the woman, eyes wide. Monica looked horrified and disgusted with what she was having to do, but tried to hide it.

"Got something to say?" Verone questioned and Monica removed her hands.

"Yes! I'll do it!" Whitworth cried.

"Do what? Say it!" Verone demanded.

The man was sobbing. "I'll do it. I'll give you your window. Just get it off me! Get it off!"

Verone smirked, "You betray me, and my rat here is gonna visit your wife, Lynn, your son, Clay, and your daughter, Lexi." Mykie squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her stomach drop. "Do you hear me? You understand me? Huh!?" Verone shot forward and grabbed the man's face, screaming at him. "You hear me?! I'll burn your _fucking_ eyes out if you cross me! I'll burn 'em out!"

Feeling like the detective got the message, Verone pulled back and patted his face. "Good, now you can go. Get rid of him." The bucket was taken off, revealing scratch and bite marks on the man's stomach. He was pulled up and led out of the room, still sobbing and trembling.

Verone smiled at the trio in front of him. It turned particularly feral when he noticed how pale the blonde in the middle was looking. "Mhm. You three enjoy the show?" None of them answered. "Fifteen minutes, and then every cop in Florida is gonna be on you. Be at Versailles Cafe at six a.m., day after tomorrow, and ready to drive. You understand?"

"Yeah," Brian answered.

"Don't play games with me, or you'll be next. Alright?" He looked at each man before turning his gaze to stare directly at Mykie. "I'll be sure to have a little fun with your girl, first, if you do." He smiled, breaking the hard look on his face. "Help yourself to a little champagne before you leave. Let's go."

Him and Monica left, leaving the trio in the room.

"That was a damn rat, man." Roman said quietly, looking at Brian. Mykie reached around her twin and grabbed the bottle of champagne, cracking it open and taking a long pull from it.

"Why is it that you get stuck with psychopaths, man?" She questioned Brian, standing up. "First Tran, now this asshole. Just— for fuck's sake" She shook her head, feeling sick to her stomach after being forced to watch that.

"You okay, baby girl?" Roman questioned. The threat Verone had made to go after Mykie first was weighing heavy in all three of their heads.

She just scoffed instead of giving a verbal reply and started to walk out of the room, champagne bottle clenched in her hands. Verone and Monica were nowhere to be seen. She stopped, surveying the room and looking for her two friends.

"You good?" Mykie was questioned again, this time by Brian. She ignored him, standing on her toes to look over everyone's heads.

Vix and Ray were off in the corner, sitting at one of the small tables shoved against the wall. They looked over and caught her eye. Mykie pointed to the front door and started to make her way to it. "You two go ahead without me," she glanced back at Roman and her brother, "I'm going to catch a ride back to the garage with some friends."

Brian had no idea who these friends were, but he trusted his sister to know what she was doing… Mostly. "Be careful," he said, pulling her in for a tight hug. "You got your phone, right?"

Mykie nodded, looking over as the two women made it to her. "Yeah, I'm good. Go on, alright?"

The two boys nodded and left, hesitating once before making their way to the car.

"I'd ask to drive, but I'm more interested in finishing this bottle," she said, not yet looking at the two directly. "Let's go, I got a _lot_ to talk about."

* * *

 **whoops, didn't mean to drop off for like half a month. i lost muse for a hot minute there, and started to work on like two other things before feeling guilty enough about being late that i wrote this. one is another f &f fanfiction, but i'mma wait til i'm completely done and happy with that one to even think about posting it. **

**let me know what you think! also, please point it out if you see any inconsistencies, because i can't be bothered to proofread the entire thing right now and i rewrote a lot of it in the middle of what i already had written.**

 **can't say when the next chapter will come along, but i love you guys for sticking around anyways.**


	12. Stuck On A Little Hot Mess

**i liiiiive! sorry for the long ass break between updates. i'm kind of eh with the beginning of this, but eh. don't know when another update will come, but i might get back into this. i ended up rereading this the other night, along with the chapters ahead that i've prewritten, and got in the mood to update. thanks for having the patience for dealing with me and the long period between updates. hope you enjoy (:**

* * *

Cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air, creating almost a cloud of smoke near the ceiling of the back bedroom.

Mykie sat on the edge of the bed, body aching pleasantly in a way that it hadn't in awhile. How was she supposed to be expected to go back to sleeping with men after having the best sex of her life with the two women sitting on either side of her, passing the cigarette back and forth?

They had skipped past any explanations of what happened in the car and decided to help in the only way they knew how that didn't involve gross things like _feelings_. Ray and Vix had helped take the edge off, helped her hands stop shaking and stopped her from feeling like she was one panicked thought away from an anxiety attack.

She passed the cigarette back to Vix and laid back on the covers, closing her eyes to avoid the hungry gazes of the two as she stretched out.

"I mean, the guy got off lucky that all he had was some bite marks and scratches on him," Ray said, trading a glance with her girlfriend.

What Mykie and her little _crew_ back in England had gotten up to was tame compared to anything they had to deal with nowadays, so it took a lot to phase them. Torture wasn't one of those things.

Mykie had explained to the two what happened while she was taken to the back room, and while they looked disgusted, both of them looked underwhelmed by the information.

"Seriously, you two could at least act like it was disturbing," she huffed, stealing the cigarette from Ray and finishing it off before tossing it in the ashtray. "It was torture, for Christ's sake."

Vix rolled her eyes, patting the blonde's calf as it pressed up against her side. "Eh, we've seen more creative ways of torture than playing with rodents." She leaned down onto the blonde, trailing a hand down her side with a soft hum. "There are many different ways you can hurt someone to get information. Breaking bones, like their hands, for example, one finger at a time. Playing with knives, leaving shallow cuts that sting with every breeze that goes by. Waterboarding. Forcing oil down someone's throat and choking them on it," she reminded the blonde of what she had witnessed back in LA with Tran, causing the blonde to grimace.

Mykie was still sensitive after their last finish, and it was sending her mixed signals as the heat in her belly started up again, even while Vix was talking about torture of all things. "You sound like you've had your own experience with it."

Instead of giving her a straight answer, Vix just lets out another hum and leaned down further to pull her into a kiss.

Okay. Sure. She knew a deflection when she saw one, but didn't call her friend out on it.

"We don't need a drug cartel on our asses, so we can't help as close as we'd like, but I could at least lend you some better firepower if you'd like," Vix said once she'd pulled back so Ray could get her turn to kiss the pretty blonde that they both were gradually starting to adore.

Mykie had to struggle to pull away from Ray to answer her. "I still have the handgun you gave me in LA, and I haven't had to use it yet. I'd say we're good, for now. But thanks, Vee." She knew how seriously the woman treated her business and knew that she hardly ever leant out something without expecting payback.

She sat up and brushed her hair back. "Now, I hate to sound like I'm kicking you guys out, but I do need to prepare tomorrow…"

Ray pouted, and she had to look away to avoid the puppy dog eyes. "What, you don't want to have a sleepover with us?"

"Nope." Mykie replied, popping the 'p'. "I don't want to get distracted by you two and not get any sleep. And trust me, if you stayed, I would not be done for the night with either of you."

Vix grinned and pulled the blonde to her side, hugging her close. Maybe they'd have another chance to have some fun time with her again, but for now, she understood how important it was for her to get ready for the danger ahead. "Alright, we'll get out of your hair. Don't hesitate to call us if you need it, okay?"

Mykie agreed, and the two left after that.

It took only a few minutes after they left for Brian to make his way into the boathouse. "I thought for a second I'd have to take one of the cots with Rome." He smirked, leaning against the doorway as he watched her strip the bed and toss the sheets onto the washer to do later.

"We were just talking," Mykie tried to lie, even as she started to clean up the bedroom from where they had gotten a little too enthusiastic.

"Oh yeah? I could hear you three talking all the way from the garage," Brian grinned, but he would have preferred to know as little about her sex life as possible. "Next time, go to a hotel or something."

Mykie snorted. "We were that loud? Jesus." She sighed dramatically, hands going to rest on her hips. She gave Brian a serious look, bottom lip jutting out into a pout. "I don't think I can ever go back to sleeping with men after those two. I forgot how good a lady could be."

Brian shook his head. "Alright, shut up. I don't need to hear any more of this. Hurry up and shower, I'm not getting into the same bed as you while you still have sex sweat on you."

She stuck her tongue out at him but did as ordered. She was feeling rather gross, and the humidity slipping in through the window wasn't helping.

* * *

Mykie had wiggled her way closer to Brian in her sleep, curled into his side as he laid on his stomach. His arm was wrapped around her neck, holding her close to him. She had her arm thrown over his back, holding onto his side and fisting his shirt as if she'd lose him if she let go.

She'd woken up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, a scream ripping its way out of her throat as she fought against the sheets that had tangled around her. Brian had woken up and tried to stop her, trying to get her to calm down so she wouldn't end up hurting herself.

They didn't talk about it, she always refused to, so he just held her and tried to go back to sleep.

She'd stayed curled into him for the rest of the night, sleep coming a little easier with him around.

Thankfully, she was a heavy sleeper when she wanted to be. So when it sounded like someone was in the room, Brian didn't wake her when he shot up on instinct to see who it was, automatically reaching for the gun in the bedside drawer before he realized who it was.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, glancing down at Mykie to make sure she wasn't awake. It took forever to get her to calm down and go back to sleep.

Monica sat down on the edge of the bed. "Brian, they're gonna kill you. I heard him telling Enrique and Roberto. Once you finish the run, they're putting a bullet in your head." She was breathing heavy, looking like she'd run all the way to the boathouse.

"You sure you heard 'em right?" He asked her, back straightening as he processed the threat.

Roman suddenly burst in, "Verone's boys are outs- ...Oh, I see what they lookin' for. Your little girlfriend here."

Mykie groaned, pulling her pillow over her head. She had woken up as soon as Roman opened his big ass mouth, and could already feel a headache start to develop from the lack of sleep. "Piss off, Rome." She grabbed Brian's pillow and tried to throw it at him, but he caught it and tossed it right back. She didn't move when it hit her, groaning into the pillow once more.

A silhouette was visible behind the blinds on the small windows.

"They don't know I'm here. I snuck out," Monica hissed, standing up from the bed. Brian got out of bed and started to get dressed.

"Get up, Mykie. Verone's goons are here." He said, raising his foot and kicking her in the butt.

She sighed, but sat up anyways and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"What are they doin' here then?" Roman questioned.

Monica snapped at him, "I don't know. Maybe they're guessing."

"Hey, go stall them. Go stall them for, like, two minutes." Brian whispered to Roman.

Mykie shook her head and crawled out of bed. "They're going to want to look inside," she grumbled, brushing her hair out of her face. She grabbed a clean shirt from the floor and gestured for Monica to follow her. "There's a roof hatch in the bathroom, you can use that to get out and sneak away."

Roman went to talk to the two, and Monica and Brian exchanged a few whispered words.

Ignoring them, Mykie started the shower. While it heated up, she carefully crawled onto the sink and reached up to unlock the roof hatch.

Brian left to go help out Roman, so Monica joined Mykie in the bathroom. "They won't see me get out, right?" She questioned and the blonde shook her head. "Okay."

Mykie climbed out of the sink and helped Monica climb out of the hatch, letting her step on her clasped hands and helping her reach the top.

With Monica gone, Mykie quickly pulled off her shirt to make it look like she was about to climb into the shower, shimmying out of her capris after.

"You ain't comin' on my..." Enrique took out his gun, pointing it at Rome when he tried to stop him. He stepped inside, and Brian tried to stop him but he was pulled back by the other guy, Roberto, with a gun in his face. Brian pulled back the curtains to look inside, watching the man examine the inside.

Roberto stopped at the bathroom door, tapping on it harshly.

"I'm naked!" Mykie called, glancing at the door. She stepped half into the shower, checking the temperature. The door was pushed open anyways and Roberto looked inside, catching Mykie's topless form. "Get the fuck out! Oh my god!" She yelled at him, quickly wrapping her arms around her front. Nudity was never an issue, but she was a great actor, fuck what Roman used to tell her.

The man held up his hands and backed out of the room, after glancing around for Monica. The door was shut and he walked away.

Mykie sighed, dropping her arms. Hopefully, that gave Monica some more time to run off.

"Keep your ass off my homeboy's boat." Roman snapped at Enrique, stepping up once Roberto stepped back outside. Enrique didn't bother turning around, elbowing him in the chest.

A fight was quick to break out. Brian grabbed Roberto's arm and twisted it, aiming the gun still in his hand at his own chest.

"Put the gun down! Put the gun down now!" Brian screamed at Enrique, having grabbed Roberto's gun as soon as he pulled it out and pushed it back at the man. Enrique had his gun pointed at Roman's head, the muzzle digging into his bald head.

"You first, asshole!" Enrique protested, unnerved by the gun pointed at his head. "You first!"

Brian shouted back at him, "I'll shoot the shit outta him! Put the gun down!"

Mykie ducked her head under the water to give off the impression that she showered before stepping out. She wrapped it in a towel and got dressed as quick as she could, tripping when her foot caught in the capris she had put on for bed the night before. "Shit!"

Out of nowhere, Verone approached the boathouse, scowling at the four. "Enough!" He ordered, quieting the group. Enrique opened his mouth, but Verone snapped at him. "Shut up. It's over. C'mon."

Brian hesitated before letting Roberto go, shoving him away from him. He unloaded the gun and handed it back to him, panting heavily as the last of the adrenaline pumped through his system.

"I'm glad to see you guys are getting along so well," Verone smirked, hands on his hips, "because tomorrow, Roberto and Enrique are gonna be riding along with you. Just so that we don't have any problems."

Mykie stepped out of the boathouse, having caught the end of the conversation. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Verone. "Who's going to be riding with me?" She questioned, arching an eyebrow at the man.

"One of my other guards will be with you," Verone answered her, barely sparing her a glance as he looked back at the two men flanking her sides. "I'll see you guys in a bit." He turned on his heel and started walking away, Roberto and Enrique sending the trio one more harsh glare before following.

As they left, Roman immediately pounced on Brian. "What the hell was she doin' in there, man?"

Mykie just grumbled and took the towel off of her head, shaking her hair out. "Man, I need some coffee. Wakin' my ass up this early is a damn crime."

Brian wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Sorry, sis. We gotta go meet Bilkins and tell him what we know."

Mykie shrugged his hand off her arm, walking back inside to grab her shoes. "Fine, but you're getting me coffee after."

"Alright, just get in the car and let's go," Brian told her and she sighed but listened to him.

The entire ride to the meeting point was silent, the only noise in the car being the radio. It was an annoying pop song with a decent beat, but she couldn't find it in her to actually try and enjoy it. She leaned forward, resting her head on the back of Brian's chair, arms braced on her thighs as she tried not to fall back asleep.

Roman shook her when they pulled up to the hideout, snapping her out of the small map she'd slipped into.

"Nice shirt, Bilkins." Mykie commented when they walked into their secret hiding spot. Everyone was dressed casual, though Bilkins almost looked like he just got off of a vacation in Hawaii.

The agent didn't look too amused. "It's my day off."

"Alrighty then."

Brian took over for her. "So this is the deal. Last night, Verone threatened a cop into giving us a window. We're driving to an airstrip, in the Keys, off of Nallwood Avenue. Verone has a plane there, and he's taking off for good."

Markham held out a hand to stop him from talking any further. "Wait a minute. How do you know this?"

Mykie crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes at him. "Your little agent, Monica, stopped by this morning."

"She's doin' her job," Roman said. "She warned us."

"She warned you about what?" Bilkins questioned.

Mykie sighed, lips curling up in disgust as she thought of the man who'd had the audacity to threaten her the night before. "Verone plans to kill us after we give him the money."

"Driving into an ambush was never part of the deal." Bilkins looked at Agent Markham. "I'm calling this off."

Markham was quick to snap at him. "Like hell you are. This is a Customs case, Bilkins. No one's calling this off unless I do." How fun. The man who seemingly had it out for the three wasn't going to drop the case just because they were being threatened. With death.

Mykie sighed and exchanged looks with Roman.

"Look. This is real simple." Markham went over to the table that was a few feet away and grabbed three walkie-talkies. "You make the run. You get Verone and his cash together, so I can move in for the bust. Alright? You don't, I will find enough charges on all three of you to make you disappear. Take these." He held out the radios to the trio. They took them and put them in their pocket without complaint. "We're gonna have GPS on you the whole time, to make sure you don't get any cute ideas."

"The only cute idea I'd have is to-" Brian cut Mykie off by wrapping his arm around her neck, covering her mouth with his hand. She tensed but didn't try to remove his arm, settling on glaring at Markham.

"And to make sure nothing happens to them, right?" Bilkins asked, glancing at the silenced blonde.

Markham snapped roughly, "Yeah, right." He turned around and started to leave.

With his back now turned to her, Mykie held up both hands and flipped him off.

Brian sighed and started to pull her out of the room, keeping his hand over her mouth as she started to try and insult the Customs agent once more.

Once they were outside, Mykie tore Brian's hand off of her mouth and turned, kicking the building's wall. It sent pain up shooting through her ankle and calf, but she couldn't give a shit in that moment. "Absolute prick. Swear to god, when I get my hands on you!"

Roman looked at her and smirked. She had always been a little spitfire. "Let me get this right. If we don't do this, then we go to jail. But if we do it, then Verone's gonna kill us."

"It's a hell of a deal, huh?" Mykie grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah. Maybe it is." They stopped at the water, leaning against the guard railing. "But I know this guy's got an ass full of loot that he's ready to dump in our cars. And I can think of two reasons why Verone doesn't need that money anymore."

Mykie grinned, staring up at her friend. "Oh boy. Here we go," she teased him.

"The three of us." Roman returned the grin. "Just like the old days. What do you think?"

Brian looked between the two, who could only be up to no good. But, he was just as mischievous as the two and matched their vicious smiles with one of his own. "I think they messed with the wrong trio from Barstow."

Mykie fist pumped the air. "Hell yeah, man!"

Her twin pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. "Yo, Tej. What's up, bro?"

The other blonde could hear his response. "What's up, shawty?"

"Hey, man, how quickly can you organize?"

* * *

The blonde knew she should have gone to bed as soon as they got back to Tej's garage, she barely got any sleep the night before, but if they wanted to pull this off, she needed to work for as long as she could. And if that meant she was downing coffee like nobody's business, then so be it. She had to finish the car.

"One more check…" She leaned in, hands braced on the side as she looked over her work. They had installed pistons under the seats that would throw the passenger door off first, then eject the seat. It was something Tej and she had come up with, and she was proud when it actually worked.

Mykie shrugged her shoulders, turning around and shutting the hood of the car. It was ready, she was just triple checking. Tomorrow would be one hell of a day, she couldn't afford one mistake happening.

She turned around to lean against the car and jumped, catching Roman standing there with his arms crossed. "I'm getting so tired of being jump scared by you assholes," she grumbled.

"You done?" He questioned, and she nodded. "Then forget the car and go to bed, babygirl. We have it all handled here." He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the Chevelle. Too tired to even try and protest, she nodded and let her best friend drag her to Brian and her's shared boathouse.

When they got inside, Mykie took a leaping dive towards the bed. She landed in the middle, starfished and already drifting off.

"You not even going to get under the covers or anything?" No answer. Roman chuckled and stepped through the curtains. "Alright. See 'ya later, Mykie."

 _"Our fifth date! How do you feel?" Jesse grinned, holding Mykie's hand as they walked along the beach's shore._

 _Considering they were going to the same beach they went to for the first date, they hadn't felt the need to dress up. Jesse was wearing nothing more than a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt that had 'Toretto's Garage' on it. Mykie was wearing a bikini with a wrap covering it, her hair pulled up into a tight bun._

 _"I'm happy that I found someone as great as you." She smiled, turning her head to kiss him on the cheek. He smiled and turned, catching her lips with his._

 _They got to where they'd set up the large blanket and sat down. Jesse reached into the picnic basket and pulled out..._

 _"Really? Pizza?" Mykie laughed, grabbing the offered slice from his hand. "Such a romantic dinner, babe." She teased, taking a bite after. It was extra cheesy, just how she liked it. After taking the first bite, she asked a question that had been on her mind since they got there, "Aren't Mia and Brian supposed to be with us?" From what she'd been told, this was supposed to be a double date._

 _At the mention of the couple, Jesse's face suddenly darkened. "Your brother," he spat the word out, like it left a sour taste in his mouth, "skipped town, remember?"_

 _Mykie looked at him, confused as to what he was talking about. "No? Why would he skip town? I thought he and Mia-"_

 _"Brian and Mia aren't a thing anymore, Mykie." Jesse snapped, surprising her. "Not after we found out that the asshole was a pig."_

 _She glared at him, immediately on the defensive for her brother, "Hey! Just because he's a cop, doesn't make him a pig. Watch yourself, Jesse."_

 _"What, are you a cop, too?" He glared at her._

 _"What has gotten into you?" Mykie snapped, setting the pizza down._

 _Suddenly, Jesse lunged forward and knocked her back. His hand wrapped around her throat, straddling her waist as he held her down. Her eyes had closed as her head hit the sand, and when she opened them back up, it wasn't Jesse with his hand around her throat anymore._

 _"What how you talk to me, bitch," Lance growled, tightening his grip. His other hand reached up, and she could feel her jaw aching before he even grabbed it, just like he did the night she had met him._

 _"Get the fuck off of me!" She shouted, bringing her fist up and punching him in the face, getting a twisted feeling of satisfaction when she felt his nose break under her hand. He shouted_ , _head knocked_ _back_ , _before he looked back down at her. Blood dripped from his nose, smearing in his teeth as around his lips as he snarled._

 _Lance pulled her up, hand still wrapped around her throat, and slammed her back into the sand._

 _It was like glass shattering, her body sinking through the sand. Her body broke through, and she started to fall into a black abyss._

Mykie's eyes snapped open with a loud gasp, limbs flailing for the split second before she hit the carpeted floor of the boathouse. For a moment, she just laid there and let herself get her breath back.

"What the fuck?" she asked the otherwise quiet room, staring up at the ceiling.

Brian poked his head through the curtain that acted as their front door, immediately noticing his sister's body laying on the floor. The blanket was still wrapped around her legs, half of it still hanging onto the bed. Her chest was heaving and there was a thin layer of sweat covering her. "You okay, Mykie?"

Even after the nightmare, Mykie felt better than she had before she went to sleep. Refreshed, even. Lifting her face from the carpet, good god she needed to vacuum, she nodded. "Yep. I'm a'okay, Bri."

He stepped inside and went to help her off of the floor. She brushed her hair out of her face, letting out a deep breath. "Rome and I are going to grab a bite to eat, want to tag along?"

Mykie almost groaned and said no, she wanted to go back to sleep, but her stomach growled before she could give him an answer. "Sure. I'm pretty hungry."

Within ten minutes, eight of them spent wrestling a brush through her hair, she was ready to go. Shoving her Converse on her feet, she followed Brian out of the boathouse and to the car, where Roman was already waiting.

"C'mon, man. I'm hungry." He complained, leaning his head out of the window.

Mykie pouted. The asshole had taken the front seat. Again.

After they'd stopped by Subway, they ate at the docks.

Mykie stood between the two, taking her usual spot in the middle. Roman was still munching on his, shockingly, third foot-long sub. The twins were surprised that he could even eat that much. Even Brian had gotten full after the first footlong and a half of another.

"Man, when you start eatin' so much?" Brian questioned, glancing at Roman as the man took a bite of his sub.

"I was in jail, brah. I know how shitty the grub is on the inside." Roman replied, ignoring Brian and Mykie's chuckles. "With the way things is shapin' up out here right now, it'll be a matter of time before I'm back in there or dead. So I'm tryin' to eat all I can while I can."

Brian smiled, looking out at the lot in front of them. "Man, you remember us growing up? You know, playing football in the dirt." Roman didn't reply, instead looking at the ground. "Gettin' in trouble, all the stupid things we did. When you got busted, whether I was a cop or not, you know, if there was anything I could've done, I would've done it, and I just want you to know that."

"Is that why you let that dude go in LA?" Roman questioned.

Mykie looked out at the lot, wondering why her friend couldn't just drop it about LA already.

Glancing down at her, Brian replied, "Yeah, I think that had a lot to do with it."

"When I got busted," Roman started, "it wasn't your fault. It was all on me, Mr. Roman Pearce, wild-and-out crazy, man. No one can tell me nothin'. Ridin' solo."

Brian grinned, "Yeah, well, not anymore, bro." The two exchanged handshakes, grinning like idiots. "Not anymore."

Mykie smiled and stood on her tiptoes, throwing an arm over their shoulders. "It's nice to have my two favorite men be friends again. The whole damn thing was bullshit, you have to admit it, Rome."

Roman wrapped his arm around her waist, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Mykie just grinned and let herself enjoy the moment. Miami was really starting to feel like home, something she had lost since her mom died. Home isn't the house that you live in, it's the people that are around you. And with Brian and Roman sort of back to being friends again, and the Miami crew, it was starting to feel like home again. But she wouldn't fully feel like it, not until she had all of her family around her again. And part of her family was the Torettos, even if they didn't consider her family anymore.

"I love you guys, you know that?" She spoke up, glancing up between the two. "You two are the best brothers a girl could ask for."

"You're such a sap, Mykie." Brian teased, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "But yeah, we love you too."


	13. Hold Your Own, Don't Show No Fear

**whaddup. hope you guys had a happy holiday and new years. this update is almost, if not exactly, a month after the last one which is a little better than just ditching for a few months i guess? i need to rewrite chapter fourteen after this, but it should hopefully be up at some point.**

 **anyways, i hope you enjoy and feedback makes a writer happy :)**

* * *

Mykie stared at the gun pointed at her with no other reaction than a raised brow. Her heart pounded in her chest and she could feel her hands start to get clammy as adrenaline and anxiety created a nice cocktail in her body, but she remained still. Unflinching in the face of danger.

"I told you I'd go for you first, didn't I?" Verone questioned, stepping up to grab her chin in his hand. His grip was rough, bruising even, but she just gave him a smile that was all teeth and no warmth.

"You did say that, didn't you?" She agreed, spitting the words out as it was tough to speak with his hand locked on her jaw. "This isn't the fun I had in mind, though."

Verone just smirked and let her go, patting her cheek once before his hand dropped. "Put her on the boat with Monica, but keep 'em separated. Don't need those two getting any ideas."

One of the guards went to grab her arm to cart her off, but Mykie jerked away from him before he could even try. Verone leveled the shotgun in his hands on her, but she just put her hands up. "I've been fuckin' manhandled enough today. I can walk on my own."

Brian's stare was heavy on her as she walked down the dock, but she didn't look back. She kept her head held high, even as the dread started to settle in her stomach.

If Brian didn't get her out of this, what would happen to her?

* * *

 _ **Two Hours Earlier**_

That morning they were woken up early for the heist. Brian and Mykie got dressed in silence, the tension too high to try and strike a conversation.

They took off towards the meeting point, where they would then follow Carter's goons to where the money was being held.

"Here we go," Roman commented over the radio, as they pulled into Versailles, a Cuban cuisine restaurant. They stopped, putting the cars in park.

"Yeah, so you know what to do." Brian started, glancing over at his sister as she leaned back in her seat. "Just stay cool, keep focused. Remember, the airstrip's on Nallwood Avenue. It's the third exit after the bridge."

"Got it."

"Ditto." Mykie agreed, adjusting the earpiece that she managed to get. Tej sure was a lifesaver when it came to tech. She preferred earpieces over walkie-talkies any day.

"So what's up, guys? You ready for this?" Brian questioned the two.

"Come on, man. Guns, murderers and crooked cops?" Roman grinned, leaning his arm against the window. "I was made for this, brah."

Mykie was silent, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Since she'd woken up that morning, she felt off. Like something was going to happen. And with her experience, her feelings were barely ever wrong.

"Mykie?"

She shook herself out of her thoughts, looking over at her two boys. She gave them a thin smile, adjusting her grip, and nodded. "As ready as I can be, Bri."

Roberto and Enrique arrived, along with some man who called himself Manny that would ride with Mykie. He was an attractive man, Manny, and had they been in any other situation, she would have hit on him. Maybe.

She caught him eyeing her through the window with a smirk, and frowned.

Okay, maybe she just wanted to straight up hit him.

Carter's goons pulled out and they followed, moods dimming. They needed to pull this off if they wanted to make it out alive.

A few minutes later, they pulled off onto a gravel road, entering a small trailer park. It wasn't just trailers, but mobile homes and RVs sitting on the property. Looking at it, Mykie suddenly liked the boathouse Brian and her were staying at a lot more.

Roberto, Enrique, and Manny got out of their car and went to the trunk. The trio from Barstow followed and got out of their cars.

Mykie was tense, her posture rigid and too straight to even be considered relaxed. Her jaw clenched as the three goons pulled out sledgehammers, shutting the trunk after.

"Come on," Manny instructed, after a tense moment of silence as the two groups stared each other down.

Roberto knocked on the door roughly with the handle of his sledgehammer. A man stepped out, a duffel bag in his hand. He said something Mykie couldn't quite catch and stepped out of the trailer, walking off quickly.

Mykie, Brian, and Roman were instructed to wait outside while the goons took down the wall and got the cash. They would then load it up and take it straight to Verone. The twins stepped closer to the trailer, catching a look inside on what they were doing. Mykie's eyes widened when she caught sight of the stacks of cash that had been hiding behind the drywall.

They loaded the cash into a bag and tossed it outside. Brian would catch it and pass it on to Mykie, who'd then pass it on to Roman. By the time they were done, each car had three bags in it.

Roman watched as Enrique tossed the last bag in his car. "Three bags in one car, huh?"

"Guess so." The man's reply was short.

The sounds of a chopper and police sirens started to make themselves known. Everyone looked up and tensed.

At the end of the street, Mykie could see a woman run out and wave the police to their location.

"Cops..." Brian said, as if everyone hadn't already figured it out. Enrique got in the car with the blonde, slamming the door shut.

Mykie jumped in through the open window, sliding into the front seat. She had already fastened her seatbelt and started the car by the time Manny got in.

Roman wasn't getting in his car. "I ain't going back to jail!"

"Where you goin', man? Let's go! Let's go!" Roberto shouted at him, waiting in the car.

"What is he doin'?" Enrique demanded as Roman ran over and grabbed a big rock.

He rushed over to the car that the goons had ridden in and set it on the gas pedal and shifted the gear, starting the car and jumping back as it started to speed off.

While the car was racing towards the cops pulling in, Roman got back to his car. He was grinning madly and laughing, making the twins grin as well. He sure was crazy as hell.

They drove through the trailers and onto the highway, speeding off. There were cops everywhere, sirens on and blaring loudly. They drove quick, shifting gears and trying to get away from the cops.

Apparently, Manny liked to drive with the window down. The wind that was blasting in was making her hair fly everywhere, getting into her face and obscuring her vision. Instead of telling the man to roll up the window, she brought her knee up and held it against the steering wheel, keeping it straight.

"Girl, what the hell are you doin'?" Manny demanded, glancing between her and the steering wheel with wide eyes. Going the speed that she was, she still should have needed to keep a hand on the wheel.

Mykie grabbed a hair tie that was on her rearview mirror and quickly pulled her hair up into a bun, jerking the wheel to swerve around a car that was in her way. "Don't worry, I've done this before." She assured him, voice dry. "Seriously though, you see my hair. Why would you do that with the window?"

Up ahead, a chopper flew over them and lowered, the side door open with two men pointing guns at them. The trio slammed on their breaks, the back of their cars swerving and jerking around as they attempted to avoid the EMPs that the cops shot at them. It missed Roman's car, but hit the twins'.

Only one of the spikes hit Mykie's car, embedded on the front. If she could just lean out of the window enough, she could knock it off.

Behind them, Brian's car was slowing down.

"Grab the wheel." The twins said to their companions.

Mykie unbuckled her seatbelt, waiting for Manny to grab the wheel. He nodded and did without question. She pushed the seat back and crawled far enough out of the window so that she mostly out of the car. One foot was struggling to keep the gas going, while her other foot was out of the car and preparing to kick the EMP.

"What the hell are y'all doin'?" Roman shouted, watching the twins climb out of their cars.

It took three strong kicks to dislodge the EMP, sending it flying off of the car and crashing into the ground. One of the cop cars ran over it, flattening the front tire and causing him to spin out.

Brian managed to pull his out and toss it back, where it lodged itself into the radiator of a cop car. It started sparking and spun out as well, causing a pileup in the middle of the highway. A few cops swerved around it, still chasing after them.

Mykie climbed back inside the car and shifted gears, pressing down on the gas and shooting passed Roman.

"That was pretty incredible, chica!" Manny praised, grinning madly as he put a hand on her arm. Her lips curled back into a grimace and she leaned away from his touch.

"Don't touch the goods, _esé_." She snapped, smacking his hand away. Mykie looked back to see Brian catching up, driving side-by-side with Roman. She was just a few feet in front of them.

They went around a couple corners, taking turns left and right as they got a little closer to the city. The cops tried to block them off, but they went around them easily.

Above them, two helicopters were hovering in the air, no doubt watching them. Brian grabbed his walkie-talkie and said over the radio, "Hey guys, everyone's here. Time for the show."

"Let's give it to 'em." Roman replied.

"Hell yeah!" Mykie grinned, taking the turn that would lead them to the parking garage that Tej owned.

Three garage doors were opened, opening just enough for the trio to drive through. They closed again just as the cops arrived, pulling to a stop in front of the building.

It was a tense couple of seconds. Well, for the cops and everyone watching.

Inside, it was like the entire racing community in Miami and surrounding cities had come to help them with the plan. In the front, the first that would leave the garage were trucks big enough to push the cops out of the way and give them an opening to leave.

While everyone started their cars and got ready, the trio and Verone's goons did the switch.

They grabbed the bags of money from the back of their cars and put them in the classics that they'd worked on the night before. Mykie jumped into the car, letting Manny handle switching the bags from the Stealth to the Chevelle.

Jimmy took the Stealth, under strict instructions to not crash it. She wanted to work on it and sell it after all of this, get some extra cash.

After the trucks were let out, the other garage doors were opened and all of the cars inside starting pouring out.

"Holy shit!" The woman in the police helicopter exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the scene before her. There had to have been at least a hundred cars inside, all driving out of the garage and scattering. The police didn't know who to go after, and they'd lost sight of the trio pretty damn quickly.

Mykie grinned, watching the cops of the street below go the opposite direction. They'd gotten back on the highway, undetected, and were making a nice getaway.

"Hell yeah, man!" Manny cheered, glancing back to watch the cops chase after the Spyder, Eclipse, and Stealth.

Mykie smirked, almost in disbelief that the plan had actually worked. She brought a hand up to her earpiece and turned it off mute. "Hey, Tej. Thanks a lot, dude. We owe you one, big time."

Back at the scene with the three cars, Tej, Suki, and Jimmy were waiting for the cop to finish writing their tickets. "Yeah, Mykie, you really do owe me, girl. You really do..." Suki nudged him in the side with her elbow, giving him a look. Jimmy did too, raising his brows at the man. " _Us_. Suki and Jimmy say you owe us, a'ight?"

"Yo, Rome, Mykie. You there, guys?" Brian's voice filtered through the radio again. "Come in."

"What's up, man?"

"It looks like we got just one more trick left, huh?"

At Brian's words, Mykie glanced at her passenger. She smirked and turned her attention back to the road. "This is going to be great, man."

"My pleasure, buddy. Let's do it, baby!" Roman replied, getting a confused look from Roberto, but he ignored it.

They'd split up, but they were all going to the same point. Roman was relaxed in his seat, cruising down the road. "Enjoyin' the ride?" He questioned, getting no reply from Roberto. "Man, it's a fast car, huh? Man, it's a classic. Old school. American muscle. Man, this car can do all kinda things, man. Wanna see? Check this out right here, homey." He reached over and unfastened the man's seat belt.

"Yo! What are you doin', man?" Roberto questioned, trying to move his hands.

"Shut up!" Roman told him before grabbing the back of his head and slamming it into the dashboard a few times, leaving Roberto groaning. Rome pulled out the special button and hit it, watching the passenger door fly off. Only a second after, the seat -with Roberto still in it- was ejected from the car. "'Ejecto seato', 'cuz! It worked! I love this button! Stay on your toes, _puto_!" He shouted out to Roberto, who'd landed in the water. He picked the radio back up, "Mr. and Ms. O'Conner, it worked, baby. Blow and go. I'm all clear. Meet me at the point. Hurry up, man! It's on, baby."

Mykie glanced at Manny and her smirk widened. The man was too busy staring out of the window to notice. "Alright, Rome. Ten-four, dude." Just as she was about to grab Manny and smash his face into the dashboard, he pulled a gun out and held it at her side without looking at her. She froze, glancing at him. "And here I thought we were gettin' friendly, Manny," she said, trying to figure out how to toss him out of the car without getting shot.

"It's just the job, baby," he gave her a smirk, watching her shoulders tense up. "Take a turn up here and head towards Tarpon Point."

It was silent for a moment on the radio before, "Yo, there's a new plan."

"What the hell?" Roman questioned, pulling up to the meeting point, where another one of their crew was waiting.

"We're meeting them at the Tarpon Point exit, not the airstrip."

Mykie cut in, "I'm headed that way now already, Bri."

Brian glanced at Enrique, who was watching him talk on the radio, "Like I said, Rome, there's a new plan."

"Brian?" Roman tried, trying to get the younger twin to answer. "Hello?"

He didn't answer. Mykie clenched the steering wheel tightly, feeling the tip of the gun dig into her side. She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something stupid, not wanting a matching scar on the other side of her body.

She got to Brian just as he was dropping his bag of money in front of Carter. She got out, ignoring the guns that were pointed her way and went to the trunk. She grabbed the bags and carried them to the small group, closing the trunk with her elbow.

"Where's the rest of it?" Carter questioned, glancing at the twins.

Mykie kept her face blank. "In the other car."

"Another car," Carter said, starting to scowl. "Where's the other car?"

"On its way."

Carter was not amused, but he gave them a dark smile. "On the way, huh?"

Mykie nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah. Here's your money."

"So you two know nothing about the agents that stormed my jet?" He questioned, getting head shakes from the twins. He nodded, clenching his jaw. "The funny thing is that I only told one person about the airstrip." He stared hard at the two before checking his watch. He walked over to Monica, raising a hand and holding it to her cheek, rubbing the skin with his thumb. " _Hm_. Customs agents sure are gettin' pretty, aren't they?"

Behind them, Enrique raised his gun and pointed it at the back of Brian's head. Manny did the same, and Mykie tense at the feeling of the cool metal digging into her head.

"Put her on the boat," Carter ordered, nodding at Monica. She tensed as an agent approached her.

"Let's go." He said to Monica, grabbing her arm. She smacked the man's hand away, glaring at him.

Mykie kept her mouth shut, glaring at Carter when he pointed his shotgun at Monica.

"Get on the boat." He ordered. She did, the guard leading her away and to the dock. Carter turned to Enrique and Manny before eyeing Mykie. "Hide the cars and get rid of him. blondie, you're coming with me."

Mykie didn't move.

Carter raised the shotgun in his hand and pointed it at her.

She stared at the gun pointed at her with no other reaction than a raised brow. Her heart pounded in her chest and she could feel her hands start to get clammy as adrenaline and anxiety created a nice cocktail in her body, but she remained still. Unflinching in the face of danger.

"I told you I'd go for you first, didn't I?" Verone questioned, stepping up to grab her chin in his hand. His grip was rough, bruising even, but she just gave him a smile that was all teeth and no warmth.

"You did say that, didn't you?" She agreed, spitting the words out as it was tough to speak with his hand locked on her jaw. "This isn't the fun I had in mind, though."

Verone just smirked and let her go, patting her cheek once as his hand dropped. "Put her on the boat with Monica, but keep 'em separated. Don't need those two getting any ideas."

One of the guards went to grab her arm to cart her off, but Mykie jerked away from him before he could even try. Manny's gun pressed uncomfortably into her spine, but she ignored it. "I've been fuckin' manhandled enough today, thanks. I can walk on my own."

Brian's stare was heavy on her as she walked down the dock, but she didn't look back. She kept her head held high, even as the dread started to settle in her stomach.

If Brian didn't get her out of this, what would happen to her?

Her brother was led away to the car he had driven to the docks and ordered to get in. Mykie glanced back just in time to see the car drive away.

Manny shoved her roughly to get her to keep walking and she glared, baring her teeth at him.

"Fuck off."

Brian drove on a dirt road, stopping at the end. Enrique pulled out a gun and pointed it at Brian's head. "End of the road. You know, I like you, but I still gotta kill you. It's my job."

Brian tried pushing the button that would eject the man out of his car, but it wasn't working.

"It's Barstow, baby!" Roman shouted over the radio, coming out of nowhere. "It's about to get ugly!" He shouted and slammed into the black SUV that one of the guards was driving.

Brian and Enrique struggled for a moment to get control of the gun, accidentally firing a few shots in their fight.

There was the sound of a crash before gunshots echoed all the way out to the boat, and Mykie felt like her heart had stopped. Verone was immediately ordering for the boat to ditch the dock, but it all felt like she was shoved underwater. She didn't know what was happening, and she could only hope and pray to Jesse's car gods that Enrique hadn't finished the job.

One of the guards grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her up to the top with Monica and Verone, but didn't let her sit. He kept his grip on her arm tight, as if she would try to pull anything with this many armed men around her.

"What the hell is she doing on that boat," Roman snarled, glancing between where he could see Mykie on the boat and Brian. "That wasn't part of the plan, cuz."

It made him panicked to see his sister on the boat with Verone, but he shoved the feeling down and put on a brave face. He could save her and Monica. He had to. "He did say he'd go after Mykie first. C'mon, before they get too far."

They rushed to Brian's car and got in, taking off. Roman looked over at Brian as he drove, the only visible signs of his stress being the clenched hands on the wheel. "I thought you two were dead, man."

"Yeah. Me too. Thanks for saving my ass, bro."

Brian was glancing back and forth between the road and the boat. Roman watched him, confused. "What are you doin', Brian?"

"I don't know, but if Verone sees a helicopter or Customs boat, they're both dead," he answered.

Roman glanced at the boat. "Boat. Car. Boat... You're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do?"

Brian nodded. "Yeah, I think so. You got my back, bro?"

"Yeah. Let's show him some real Dukes of Hazzard shit, man."

Carter was going on about how Monica was undercover for almost a year and only managed to slip once. He still obviously had a soft spot, however small it was, for her because he sent her downstairs not too long after they started to get further from the dock.

Mykie was left on the top of the boat with him, feeling like her stomach had dropped to her feet every time he looked at her.

Just as he was opening his mouth, they saw the Camaro suddenly fly off a ramp and come soaring towards them.

Mykie jumped out of her chair and pushed Verone over before he could try shooting her, jumping downstairs to where Monica was hiding. The boat jerked and she was almost knocked off of her feet, but she grabbed the wall and held herself up.

There was a guard just at the bottom of the stairs and he grabbed her by the hair, trying to pull her off of her feet. She couldn't stop the yelp from slipping out as he yanked, but she used the momentum from the force of the pull to tackle him onto the floor. She landed on top of him and punched him in the face with all she had, once, twice, before she grabbed a discarded cup off the counter and smashed it over his head.

He went limp under her and she let out a sigh of relief, pushing herself off of him. The glass had cut her hand and stung like a bitch, but she just clenched her fist and made her way to find Monica.

There was a grunt and a not so manly yelp before the other guard was toppling over and landing on the floor, knocked out. Monica stepped over him calmly, shaking her fist out. "You good?" she questioned, eyeing the blood dripping onto the floor from the blonde's hands.

"I'm fine. We should get upstairs before Verone tries to shoot my brother's brains out," she turned and rushed back to the stairs before Monica could reply, knowing the woman would be behind her. The guard she'd knocked out had a gun, so she grabbed that before rushing up the steps.

Brian shot at Verone, knocking him off of his feet and making the shotgun go off, but it missed the car entirely. He kept his gun trained on him, ready to fire again when he started to reach for the dropped shotgun.

Monica kicked his hand away and picked it up, aiming it at the man. Mykie had the gun she slipped from the guard out, ignoring how touching it made her palm sting and burn as she held it steadily with both hands. "You lose, fuckhead," she spat, half tempted to shoot the man right there.

Verone chuckled darkly and sat up, not seeming concerned about the three guns pointed at him.

"You two okay?" Brian asked, looking over both of them. Monica looked fine besides the forming bruises on her knuckles, and Mykie had blood dripping off of the gun she was holding.

"Always," Mykie replied, glaring down at Verone before looking at her brother and best friend. "You two?" Roman was grabbing his arm, face screwed up in pain. Brian had a small cut on his forehead, but it looked superficial and would only need a band-aid at most.

Instead of answering, her boys leaned back into their seats, finally relaxing. She wanted to do the same, but she wouldn't be able to until Verone was in handcuffs and being carted away.

A SWAT team, Markham, and Bilkins all arrived quickly. The boat was driven back to the dock, where they all met up with the agents. The dock was full of activity as officers ran about and an investigation team arrived.

Roman was treated for his arm, and Mykie had to sit and wait as the EMT picked the glass out of her palm before cleaning and wrapping it. Brian did get his bandaid once it was clean, and Mykie almost wanted to ask if they had Hello Kitty bandaids they could give him instead.

Markham walked over to the group, ignoring Mykie's glare. "So, there were six bags total, huh? The six from the boat."

"So we good, right?" Roman questioned him. "My record's clean?"

Markham nodded. "You held up your end. Your records are clean."

The trio exchanged looks before Roman got up and walked to his car. He unlocked the trunk and grabbed his three bags, reluctant to hand them over. He carried them over to the twins and Markham and dropped them on the ground.

"So maybe there was nine bags," he said. "I guess we can call it even."

"Agent Dunn!" Markham called the agent over, shaking hands with the trio. "We found some more evidence." Dunn and another officer grabbed the bags and carried them off.

"Come on. Let's take it to the truck."

Across from them, Carter was getting treated. His left arm was covered in blood, and his shoulder was heavily bandaged. The look he was giving the trio... well, if looks could kill, they'd already be six feet under.

"Don't drop the soap, big homey." Roman called over, grinning at him and chuckling. Carter smirked, glaring at them with a clenched jaw.

Brian smirked. "I hope you know that when he gets out, he's gonna kill your ass."

"Yeah," Mykie nodded in agreement, "you better watch out."

"He ain't gettin' out," Roman replied, still chuckling.

Carter was stood up, and he smiled at the trio. "I'll see you soon."

Roman's smile dropped. "You think he gonna get out?"

Mykie nodded. "Oh yeah."

Brian added, "He'll be out." The twins stood up and started to walk away.

Roman stared at them for a moment before following, "No, for real. You think he gettin' out, though?"

Bilkins and Monica approached them. "We took care of your decoys. They're free and clear. There's a sedan out on the road for you. Try to bring it back in one piece."

"Yeah," Brian chuckled. He held a hand out, "Thanks a lot, Bilkins. You're alright."

"Thanks."

"Thanks for looking out, man." Brian replied.

Mykie held a hand up, "Actually, I'll be taking my car. That was my car, built it from scratch."

"Alright." Bilkins smirked, nodding his head.

Monica questioned Roman and Mykie, "So you trust me now?"

"You a'ight." Roman answered her.

"Eh," Mykie shrugged, not really giving a yes or no answer. The only thing they could really bond over is getting taken by Carter.

Monica smirked and held a hand out, shaking it with Roman, who groaned in pain as it was his bad arm. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. She turned to Brian and held a hand out, "Nice working with you, O'Conner."

"Same here." He replied, smiling at her.

Mykie rolled her eyes and shook hands with the brunette when she offered her hand. "I guess you're pretty cool," she mumbled, giving the woman a small smile.

The two agents walked away, Monica sending a look over her shoulder towards Brian that promised certain things to come.

Roman noticed the look on Brian's face and grinned. "Mm. I'm-a have to stay out here in Miami, man. Keep you out of trouble, brah. You know what I'm talkin' about."

They started to walk away from the scene, stopping at Mykie's car, which was parked close to the end of the road. "So you gonna kick it in Miami, bro?" Brian questioned.

"Oh, man, I love Miami. Miami's off the hook." Roman replied, fist bumping with Brian.

Mykie rolled her eyes, rubbing at her aching scalp. Her hair tie had been ripped out when the guard grabbed it, and she hadn't bothered to put it back up.

"We could open a garage together," Brian suggested, looking at the two.

"A garage?" Roman stopped, causing the twins too as well. "How we gonna do that, brah?"

Brian glanced around to make sure no cops were around before stepping closer. "Pockets ain't empty, cuz."

Roman grinned and lifted his shirt up, revealing cash stashed into the waistband of his jeans. "And we ain't hungry no more either, brah."

Mykie smirked and lifted her shirt up, revealing the same thing. "Good day to wear a sports bra, too," she added, lifting the shirt even higher on one side to show the stack hidden in the band of the bra. The two men laughed and they all fist bumped.


End file.
